


Everything I need, I get from you...

by Crinklyloulou



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Babygate (One Direction), Break Up, Canon Compliant, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Hand Jobs, Larry Stylinson Is Real, M/M, MAYBE SOME SMUTT OK MOST DEFINITELY PROBABLY, Masturbation, Modest Management - Freeform, My First Fanfic, Oral Sex, Past Relationship(s), Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-19 23:28:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9465389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crinklyloulou/pseuds/Crinklyloulou
Summary: Louis refreshed the browser on his laptop, staring intently down at the web page in front of him. It was only a matter of time until the news went live and Louis could feel a sense of both dread and relief radiating through his body. Today was the day Louis had been waiting for - the day when all the lies stopped. The day the world found out that Freddie-Reign was not his son.Louis and Harry have been apart since the start of their hiatus in December 2015, what happens when the pair are thrust back together again? Can Louis forgive Harry for breaking his heart, does time really heal wounds? The band's hiatus has ended and the foursome are due to start touring again when tragedy strikes. Will things ever go back to the way they were?((Basically a canon fic, flashbacks of prior years, a sprinkle of angst, a couple of smutty situations and a happy ending.))





	1. End of the Day.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is my first every Larry fic and it's probably not going to be amazing but I so wanted to write this!! So, if you like it, let me know and I'm always open for some constructive criticism. Thanks guys xx

 

It had been three days since the papers released the official statement, and Louis' phone had barely stopped vibrating, journalists were barricaded outside of his house, hoping to catch a glimpse of the "heartbroken" singer, but Louis was anything but. The past eighteen months had been a nightmare, the lies and the deception were tearing Louis apart, his only solace was the fact that he knew it wouldn't last forever, the truth would come out in the end and Louis' would be spared from the bullshit, eventually.

Apart from a Skype meeting with his manager and publicist, he had been holed up in his house, radio silent, eating junk food and completely ignoring the mess the admission had left behind in its wake. Louis had become quite the expert in the art of doing nothing since One Direction's hiatus had started. Sure, at first it was refreshing, not having to be awake at ungodly hours to do interviews or rehearse for shows, but after a while, the novelty had worn off.

It was early evening by the time the noise outside had died down, and Louis decided to step out onto his rear patio for a smoke, he grabbed his old green jacket from the wardrobe and headed outside. It was mid-August, and the sky was a warm orange shade, the smoggy, constricting air of London was getting thicker as the night sky moved in. Louis decided it was a good idea to check his phone to see if he'd missed anything important.  
  
Crouching down onto the tiled floor and blowing smoke out into circles, he pulled his phone from his jacket pocket. His younger sister Lottie and their mother had called a couple of times, but he knew they would understand him needing some down time.  
  
There was also a text from Briana, but Louis really could not deal with her at the moment. Louis blamed her for a lot of things, it was irrational really - but he did.  
Apart from a multitude of tweets, calls, and messages, there was nothing Louis needed to respond to urgently; he was just about to set the phone back down when he saw a text from an unfamiliar number.

**Heard the news, hope all is well. - H**

He almost choked on his cigarette when he realized who the unknown sender was, the formal tone, the hyphen... the initial.  
It was Harry.  
The same Harry who he hadn't spoken to in over six months, and the same Harry who had broken his heart.  
__________________________________________________________________

Flashback - December 2015

The boys had just performed their last show together on The X Factor before their hiatus was due to start and they were by all accounts totally exhausted. An array of cheers, hugs, and high-fives awaited them as they bounded off the stage, tears in their eyes, feeling quite emotional at the fact it would be a long time they would be together in that way again.

After the congratulations and farewells had ended, Louis was in his dressing room getting changed into something that was a little less sweaty and a bit more comfortable when there was a knock at the door, accompanied by a soft, unmistakable voice calling out for him, it was Harry.

"Come in, just changing," Louis announced to the younger boy and smiled as he entered the room.

Harry had changed his clothes since they'd left the stage and instead of the bright, floral ensemble he was wearing previously, he now wore a loose pair of jogging bottoms, an unusually plain white shirt and his long hair was scraped back into a lazy bun. Louis' eyes met with Harry's as he walked towards him with his arms outstretched. The two boys embraced one another, Louis' arms were sliding around the small of Harry's back, and Harry's were around Louis' neck, holding him so tightly and leaning all of his weight onto the smaller boy as if he needed him to stand upright. Louis looked up at Harry, and he could sense something was bothering him, Harry's eyes were shut tight and he could feel his heartbeat racing.

"What's wrong?" asked Louis softly, reaching up to pull a stray strand of hair away from Harry's face. As soon as he said it, he wished he could have taken it back; he could have never imagined what was about to come next.

Harry pulled away from Louis, and his eyes fell to the floor.  
Louis had noticed Harry acting differently over the past few weeks, he'd been showing up late to rehearsals, staying up all night and he wore a permanent frown on his face but he had naively put it down to the fact that he was nervous about the break - they all were.

"Lou..." Harry started, which pulled Louis out of his train of thought. "We need to talk," and with that one sentence, Louis' entire world fell apart.

The next few moments went by in a haze, and Louis found himself storming out of his dressing room, leaving a distraught Harry on his knee's in the middle of the floor. Louis didn't care, he needed to get out of this place, he sprinted down the corridor to where they were due to exit together and pushed open the fire doors to get outside. The bitter night's air hit Louis' like a ton of bricks, and once he was outside, his body gave way, and he slid to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably with his head in his hands.

 _After everything, after fucking everything they had been through,_ he thought to himself.

_How could he do this to me?_

_To us?_

After what seemed like an eternity, their driver curled around the corner and pulled up slowly right in front of where Louis was sitting, the gravel crunching beneath the wheels, he heard the door of the car slam shut and the driver's footsteps getting closer to him, he didn't look up.

"Excuse me, Mr. Tomlinson, is everything okay?" asked the driver with a sympathetic tone in his voice and a concerned look plastered on his face. Wiping away tears from his face and sniffing loudly, Louis stood up and looked at the driver.

"Yes, everything is fine" he unconvincingly replied to the driver. "I need you to take me home."

"No Mr. Styles, tonight?" the driver asked, innocently.

Louis shook his head and walked towards the car, opening the door and sliding in.  
As the car was about the drive away, Louis lifted his head up to see  
Harry standing at the exit looking so much younger than his twenty-one years, he turned his head away and instructed the driver to go.

  
There was no objection.  
__________________________________________________________________

Without realizing it, Louis had tears in his eyes; his cigarette had burnt out, and he was squeezing his fists tight as if he was right back there in that moment. Right back to when he lost Harry, the truth is - he'd never really gotten over it. Still couldn't sleep at night thinking about everything they had lost, waking up sweating and frantically searching for the person who should be lying there next to him, only to find his bed empty and not another soul around for miles.

Louis had felt alone for a long time, had been dealing with the utter shit storm that had taken over his life; he can still remember the exact moment it happened. The moment he was told about his "impending fatherhood" and the threats that had followed by his management team when he point blank refused.

He remembers holding onto Harry's hand so tight and begging them not to do it, but the deal was done, he had no say. He had signed a contract, signed his life away.  
The stunt, he could deal with. The headlines "Louis Tomlinson, of One Direction is going to be a daddy!" he could deal with, but what he couldn't deal with, is the fact that it forced him and Harry apart.  
They swore blind it wouldn't, endless promises under the covers late at night, holding each whilst they cried because all they wanted was each other, nothing more. But in the end, Louis lost everything.

 _Was it too much to ask?_ He thought to himself, sighing sadly.

Forcing himself to get up and retreat inside, the goosebumps on his arms and legs rubbing against the material on his clothes, he headed straight for the bathroom and let the tap run cold. The splash of the water on his face was comforting, and he looked up at himself in the mirror and finally let the events of the last two years sink in, he felt numb. It was like his entire body had shut down, and he wasn't in control of anything anymore.

Before he knew it, he was in the bedroom pulling on a loose-fitting black t-shirt and black jeans; he fiddled with the mop of hair on his head trying to make himself look atleast a little bit presentable and wiped his blotchy face down again.  
  
Lous padded down into the kitchen and opened the cupboards to find exactly what he needed staring right at him, the single bottle of whisky that had been sitting there since Harry left. He stood up on his tip-toes to reach the bottle, and pulled it down, opened the cap and took a rather generous swig straight from the bottle.

Before he knew it, his phone was in his hand, and his finger was lingering over a particular number, a number in which he had not called in a very long time.

"Fuck sake Louis, been trying t'get a hold ya all week" Zayn practically shouted down the phone.  
  
Louis awkwardly brushed his fingers through his hair feeling rather touched that Zayn was even thinking about him.

"I know, m'sorry about that, and I'm sorry about the call and everything, I know we've not... well, I know we haven't y'know, spoke much recently. I just... I need to get out of this house, mate."

A crippling silence fell over the conversation. It was a while before anyone spoke and Louis bit down on his bottom lip, he could almost kick himself for even making the call, he was just about to make an excuse to end the call when Zayn cleared his throat.

"I've seen the papers, Lou..." Zayn almost whispered.

Louis cut him off before he had a chance to say anything else.

"Can... can we just not talk about it; my head is fucked at the minute, please."

And just like that, as if nothing had ever happened, Zayn was on his way. Louis had every intention of going out tonight, whether it was a good idea or not. He needed to get his mind off of things, needed to see his friend, and most of all he needed to get royally wankered. 


	2. Right now, I can be your vice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi loves, heres chapter 2, I hope you like it!!   
> Also, just a warning, there's quite a big smut scene in this chapter so if you want to skip it then that's absolutely fine xx
> 
> Be nice, please! :-)

  
Louis perched at the breakfast bar in his kitchen reading the text from Harry, over and over again. His mind was a little hazy now from the whisky sitting heavily on his stomach, and the devil on his shoulder was telling him to text the boy back giving him a piece of his mind. Funnily enough, just as Louis was about to start typing, the doorbell rang out.

 _Saved by the bell_ , thought Louis as he hauled himself up and walked down the corridor to answer the door.

 _Here goes_ , he thought and twisted the knob to greet the boy.

As soon as he laid his eyes on Zayn, he was being pulled into a strong, comforting hug and Louis felt his whole body relax, nothing had changed, not really. After the initial awkwardness and the polite small talk, they headed into the kitchen and plonked themselves down on the floor. The two friends conversed for a while, Zayn telling Louis all about his time away from the band and what he'd been up to and what his present plans were. Louis was keeping quiet, not wanting to divulge in the overwhelming elephant in the room. It didn't take the pair long to become comfortable with one another again as they sipped on beers, smoked cigarettes and reminisced about the chaos they used to cause together, rolling up their sleeves to reveal the 'bus 1' tattoo's they had done together and laughing at how shit they were.

"I've missed this" sighed Louis as he ran his finger up and down the ice cold glass of his bottle.

Zayn looked at Louis with sad eyes and offered up a small nod and after a few moments of silence, Zayn finally brought it up.

"How are you? Be honest, Lou." Zayn asked not looking Louis directly in the eye.

"Honestly? Pretty fucking shitty," replied Louis pulling his knee's up to his chest.

Of course, Zayn knew about everything, that he never fathered a child, in fact, he was there when the initial meeting took place and the plans were laid out. Zayn was escorted out of the building that day for threatening one of Simon's minions. Zayn moved closer to Louis, offering a sympathetic hand on his shoulder when Louis suddenly jumped up. Zayn was about to say something when Louis interrupted him.

"I want to go out," Louis stated, and with this, Zayn held his hands up, promising not to talk about it anymore and delved into his pockets to retrieve his phone. He called a cab and within minutes, they were piling into the back of a black taxi, on their way into town. Of course, they had to have the driver park a couple of streets down and use the back exit of Louis' home as the paps were still parked outside Louis' house with their camera's ready to get the first picture of the 'betrayed boyband member.'

It was about half-past ten in the evening when the two boys made it to Boujis, a high-end nightclub in London which Louis and Zayn were very familiar with. The last time Louis was here, was the week following his split with Harry and it didn't end very well.

Hazy memories of that night came flooding back to him, fighting with a random bloke outside of the toilets, pushing his was through the crowds to pull himself up into the DJ booth and stealing his microphone to spit out vile words aimed at Harry. The last thing he remembered about that night was being escorted out of the venue by an unusually strong gruff looking man and being thrust into the back of a taxi whilst proceeding to vomit all over the seats. He shook his head as if he was pushing the memories away physically.

The streets were crowded, and Louis groaned to himself at the thought of having to get out of the car and communicating with people. Nevertheless, the car stopped, and the two boys braced themselves for the influx of flashing lights and voices shouting their names, he can just see the news tomorrow;

** 'Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik end bitter feud after Louis' heartbreaking revelation comes to light.' **

Five minutes later and they were inside the club, the dimly lit venue was the perfect place to drown his sorrows. Louis headed straight for the bar and took a seat waiting for Zayn who had been cornered by a fan.  
"Two corona's," Louis shouted to the bartender and took out his phone, still avoiding the message sitting in his inbox. He sent a quick text to his mum and sister to reassure them he was okay and put the phone back in his pocket.  
Louis was already at that warm, fuzzy stage of being drunk and it looked like Zayn wasn't far behind him as he watched him stumble over his own feet as he headed towards Louis.

"Sorry about that, she just wanted a picture," laughed Zayn as his ears went pink from his little trip.

Louis chuckled and handed Zayn his drink, they must have looked like the most miserable bastards in this entire place, sat at the bar, watching the partygoers dance and socialize. A few girls were trying to catch Louis and Zayn's eyes as they sashayed past, wiggling their hips and flipping their hair, all completely in vain, mind.  
Louis wasn't that way inclined, and Zayn was loved up with his new model girlfriend, Gigi.

"Oh man, if only they knew," laughed Louis as he took a sip of his beer.

"What? That you like dick?" asked Zayn with a cocky tone to his voice, raising one eyebrow.

Louis almost choked on his drink and broke into laughter; it felt good to joke about these things, the way they used to.

Regarding Louis' sexuality, on some level he had always known that he was gay, the idea of being with a girl had never appealed to him, in fact, before Harry, the thought of being with anyone had never been a goal of his, he was quite content on his own. Until one day, a boy of just sixteen walked into his life and changed everything. He remembers that day as if it was yesterday.

__________________________________________________________________  
Flashback - May 2010

"I need to pee!" announced the young boy loudly, making the room full of strangers stare directly at him.   
"Louis, you're on in ten minutes, hurry up!" his mother groaned as she pointed her son in the direction of the toilets. Louis ran down the corridor to the men's bathroom and walked towards the urinal, unzipped his trousers and relieved himself. As he was peeing, the door opened, and another boy walked in, the young looking lad who had just entered was wearing a gray cardigan, denim jeans and donned fantastically springy curls on the top of his head, Louis watched as the boy walked towards him and stood immediately next to him at the adjacent urinal.

 _Out of all the urinals in here and this guy wants to be pee buddies? Some people do not know the meaning of personal space_ , Louis huffed internally.

  
Louis zipped up his trousers and turned his head to look at the boy next to him, and as he did, the younger boy looked up and met Louis' gaze, smiling at him in an almost precious way. The other boy was just about to say something when his eyes shot down to the floor, and his face dropped.

  
"Oops!" he exclaimed to Louis while gesturing down to the floor, zipping his own trousers up and rushing to the paper towel dispenser, Louis looked down to see that the younger boy had splashed his pee onto Louis' brand new, white shoes. He couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened, but soon saw the funny side. Growing up with two youngers sisters meant he had been pissed on plenty of times. He was just about to say something when the boy came running back over, paper towel in hand and ready to clean the incriminating urine off of Louis' shoes. Louis grabbed the boy's arm and smiled broadly.

"Hi." was all Louis said, beaming from ear to ear.

They both cackled as if it was the funniest thing that had ever happened and introduced themselves to each other, so enthralled in the conversation Louis almost forgot about his upcoming audition. For some reason, he felt drawn to this boy; he ended up asking for a picture with Harry before it was time to go, so if today went horribly wrong, at least he'd be able to remember the beautiful boy that peed on him in the bathroom.

But it didn't go wrong, it went very very right, and soon enough Louis was given three yes's and was thrust into the competition that was The X Factor.

From that encounter on Harry and Louis soon became HarryandLouis, the two boys standing by each other's side, in victory, and in failure.

__________________________________________________________________

  
Zayn and Louis had been in the club for over an hour now, and their miserable demeanor had most definitely changed, both boys were now occupying the dancefloor, throwing shapes to a rather catchy dance track that Zayn had requested. The night continued, and both boys were thoroughly enjoying themselves, for Louis it had been a night of building bridges and smiling again, it took his mind off the current problems he was facing, and he was starting to feel like maybe he didn't have to do it alone after all. He made the conscious decision that he was going to call Liam and Niall tomorrow, he missed his brothers. Their friendship had become strained recently, mostly due to Louis not really wanting to leave the house much, unless absolutely necessary. When he did leave the house, he spent the majority of the time feeling bitter about Harry and the lies he was spouting.

Gagging for a cigarette and a breather, Louis and Zayn headed out to the smoking area, arms around each other and belting out the lyrics to 'Call Me Maybe.'   
Louis lit his cigarette and threw his lighter to Zayn; there was nobody else in the smoking area which meant they could smoke in peace. Inside the club, there was a lot of people wanting pictures and wanting to talk, but Louis just didn't have it in him to be courteous, so he refused pictures and idle chit-chat, for once just thinking about himself.

Louis took a drag on his cigarette and stared out over the hillside the smoking area was perched on; the moon was immensely bright tonight.

Louis loved to look at the moon, Harry and himself used to have picnics in the moonlight, lying on blankets and holding each other under the stars. Louis wondered if Harry ever looked up and thought of him.

  
_Probably not._

Zayn broke the silence and was ranting on about how much he had missed him, and how he missed the other boys too, but when Zayn mentioned Harry's name, Louis froze.

Hearing somebody say his name had ignited something in him. He had just about forgotten the text message that was lingering on his phone in the pocket of his jeans; Zayn noticed Louis' facial expression change, took the hint and stopped talking.

"Harry text me." Louis blurted out, unintentionally. He just needed to talk to somebody about it.

"Oh." was all Zayn managed.

"I just, I can't believe has the audacity to even fucking think about me, why would he?!" shouted Louis in a drunken babble. "He ended things with me, he broke my fucking heart and now he wants to know if I'm okay? After eight months of complete silence, now he contacts me!"

Louis was shaking with anger now, kicking one of the lounge chairs over in his rage and throwing his cigarette down onto the floor.   
He didn't hate Harry, didn't think he had it in him to hate Harry, but he hates what he did to him, they spent so many years wrapped up inside of each other's pockets, fighting for their right to be in love and he threw it all away, without even giving a valid reason.

"I know he hurt you," whispered Zayn, "Liam told me what happened, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you, it fucking sucks man." Zayn looked as though he was about to burst into tears.  
Louis wiped away a tear from his own eyes and whispered, "He fucked everything up, Zayn."

"Shall we go home?" Zayn offered.

  
Louis could only muster up a timid nod.

 

 

The next morning, Louis forced himself awake to end the dream he was having, he peered around the room with one eye, unable to open them all the way due to the bright summer sunshine seeping in through his light curtains, dust filled the air in line with the streak of light beaming in. He looked down at himself, lying on top of the covers, dick hard in his boxers and enveloped in goosebumps.  
It wasn't uncommon for him to dream about Harry, in fact, Louis can't remember the last dream he'd had that he wasn't involved in - they weren't usually as steamy as the one he had just awoken from.

Feeling incredibly tense and frustrated, Louis let his hand lie softly on top of his boxers, feeling how hard he was underneath. He closed his eyes and bit down onto his bottom lip, he didn't want to give into the dream, but it had left him feeling rather weak and needy.

Louis ran his hands down his body, pausing at the area just above the waistband of his boxers, he lowered his hands and squeezed himself through the material and let out a long sigh.

The friction of the fabric felt so good against the tip of his cock as he started to rub himself, slowly at first, but soon quickening his pace.  
  
It didn't take Louis long to become rock hard, images of his dream like a tattoo etched into his brain, he imagined Harry looming over him, biting down on his neck and feeling Harry's cock rub against his own as their bodies collided.

He couldn't take it anymore, he pushed his hands down into his boxers and curled his hand around his warm, damp cock, thumbing at the tip which was sopping with precum. His other hand clumsily dragging his boxers all the way down, with this his cock came loose and smacked against his stomach.

Louis' breathing was heavy now, and his heart was racing as he worked his way over his cock, changing pace and rocking his hips to meet the rhythm. He stopped for a moment to lift his fingers up to his tongue, tasting himself briefly. He spat onto his hand and needily grabs back at his cock which was lying abandoned against his stomach, urgently reminding himself to buy some _fucking_ lube.

His free hand wandered over his chest, paying extra attention to his nipples, which had always been one of his most sensitive spots. As he picks up the rhythm again he starts to feel the burning in the pit of his stomach, he moans out loud and picks up his pace. His hand was moving faster and faster, taking in all of his length, he calls out again and prays to God that Zayn had actually left.

He was too far gone to care that much.

His body was trembling beneath him, and his hair was sticking to his forehead, it felt so good to touch himself again, he hadn't done this in a long time, and now he wonders why he ever stopped.

He was practically panting now, the image of the younger boy was still planted firmly in Louis' mind. Big hands holding Louis down, the smell of Harry, completely raw and natural, gently pressing his cock into Louis' rim and wrapping him up in his tattooed arms, he was _so_ close now.

There was no rhythm anymore; he was pounding his hand up and down his shaft, other hand clawing at his chest. He feels it coming and with one final moan, his muscles tighten, his cock twitches beneath his hand, and he comes undone, his whole body lifting into the air and succumbing to the feeling, shaking with pleasure as his torso is splattered with come, his legs turned to jelly and fell flat onto the bed.

It took a few minutes before Louis eventually came around, the smell of sex hung heavily in the air, he felt both accomplished and ashamed at what he'd done, or more because of who he'd thought of.

Hahaaa _, fuck_ you _Harry Styles. You might have broken up with me, but I can still have sex with you in my mind,_ aaaaanytime _I want_ , Louis chortled to himself and smiled one of his devious smiles.

Feeling a tad gross and dry-mouthed, he mustered up the strength to sit up and swung one leg onto the cool flooring squinting his eyes to read his alarm clock; it read 10:45 - the earliest Louis had been up in a while.

He headed for the bathroom to get washed up, his dick had gone limp now and swung between his legs as he padded into the cool, tiled room.

Louis switched on the shower and jumped in; the cool water was soothing on his hot skin, he let it trickle down over his hair and face, squeezing shower gel into his hands to cleanse away his sins.   
  
It was the most relaxed, Louis had felt in a while, he even hummed a little tune as he washed his hair.

Of course, he still had to deal with the fallout from the "paternity" test, but he wasn't scheduled to attend any formal interviews or give out any statements until the upcoming week, the deal was that he would lay low for a while until the press died down.

Louis was caught off guard when he heard his phone ringing from the bedroom, he grabbed his towel from the rail, wrapped it around his waist and ran to the bedroom.   
When he picked up the phone and saw the ID, his heart sank - a call from management this early in the morning was never a good thing.

"'Hello," answered Louis, as water from his hair rolled down his face.

"Hello, Mr. Tomlinson, how are you this morning? came the voice.

He didn't respond.

After a few moments, the voice started again,

"Your presence is requested at our office today." the chirpy sounding receptionist practically sang to him.

 

Louis rolled his eyes.

 

"Any particular reason why?" answered Louis in a flat tone, meetings with his management team was the bane of his existence, and he attended as little as he possibly could.  
  


"I'm afraid I can't disclose information over the phone, your manager has called a meeting for two o'clock this afternoon, we hope you can make it?" asked the lady, although Louis knew it wasn't a question at all.  
  


"Yeah, s'pose" mumbled Louis, trying not to sound concerned, and not in the least bit pleased that he has to deal with such wankers when he'd had such a great start to the morning.

"Fantastic! We will see you then, have a nice day, Mr. Tomlinson." piped the pleasant voice. He didn't say goodbye. Louis slammed his phone down on his bedside table and walked back to the bathroom to finish off his shower.  
  
Back in his bedroom, Louis trawls through his wardrobe to find something suitable to wear, he pushes his rack of shirts to the left and comes to the end of the pole when he spots something that had fallen towards the back. Louis crouches down to pick it up to hang back up when he realizes who the shirt belonged to, it was a white, sheer button up shirt with black splotches dotted all over, and about four sizes too big for Louis.  
  
It was Harry's.

Louis thought he had cleared everything out when Harry left.

Why did it have to be the exact one that he'd found Harry utterly irresistible in? The way that when he'd reach upwards, it would ride up on his torso, revealing just a hint of his statuesque stomach, marked with the tattoo's that Louis could spend hours on end tracing with his fingers.   
He sighed and placed it back on the hanger, currently unable to get the thought of Harry wearing the shirt out of his mind.

He finally decided on some clothes to wear, his mandatory black jeans and a thin grey t-shirt, as he was pulling the t-shirt over his head, he noticed the red marks he'd left on his body during his early morning escapade. He smirked to himself, feeling rather confident today.

When he'd finished getting dressed, he headed to the kitchen to grab some breakfast and a cup of tea to soak up last night's alcohol, he dialled his mums phone number and waited for her to answer.

Speaking to his mum always cheered him up, she knew exactly what to say and when to say it, he loved hearing all the gossip from back home and what his siblings were up to, a little bit of normality helped to level his head out.   
  
He spent the next hour on the phone convincing her that everything was fine, that he could handle the articles in the newspapers and promising to travel down to see his family next weekend. The rest of the phone call was spent laughing and listening to her proudly list all the new things his little brother and sister have learnt this week; his heart soared when he thought about little Earnest and Doris, their tiny faces staring down at him from the picture frames on his mantlepiece. He missed them so much.

 

With time ticking on, Louis wraps up the phone call, telling his mum he was meeting friends, he knew she'd only worry if he told her he had a meeting with his management team.   
When the call ended, Louis headed towards the front door where his shoes from last night were lying haphazardly a couple of metres apart from one another. He pulled them on, grabbed his keys from the ceramic bowl by the door, it was then that he noticed a note from Zayn that read - 

 **Had to leave early, call you later x**  
  
He stepped outside the door, feeling the warmth on his skin immediately, the gravel of his driveway crunched as he strode towards his where he unlocked the door, and slid inside.

 _The next hour is going to be rather interesting_ , he thought.

 

 

 


	3. Temporary fix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaay! Harry's arrived :-)
> 
> Ok, I really like this chapter, tell me what you think!
> 
> Also, thank's guys for the nice comments and stuff, it really means so much to me, I was so nervous about writing this fic, I haven't written in a long time and it could probably do with some tweaking, but it means alot to know people are enjoying it, thank you thank you thank you <3 xx

The journey to the office was one Louis knew like the back of his hand; he manoeuvred the vehicle with ease as he took a short cut hoping not to be caught in the London congestion. The office was based quite far away from the hustle and bustle of downtown London. Instead, it sat privately a few yards away from an industrial yard.   
 As Louis began the last stretch of the journey, he turns the radio up in the car just in time to hear the host introducing Niall Horan's solo single. Louis beams with pride, of course, he had already heard the song, but he was so proud of Niall for releasing it and it getting into the Top 10.

Louis didn't have any plans to release any solo music anytime soon, he was quite enjoying the time off, and now that his prior commitment had just ended, he intended on doing exactly that. He was going to catch up with friends, see his family more and try to lead a normal life, well... as normal as a member of one of the world's most famous boyband's can.

Louis turned a corner, and the building came into sight, it was a rather striking building with white-bricked walls and a multitude of windows, gleaming as the sunlight bounced off them, he drives to his allocated parking spot and stops the engine.   
  
  
He checks the time on his phone which told him he had twenty minutes before his meeting was scheduled, so he trawled through Twitter, noticing that the hashtag 'R.I.P Baby Gate' was trending. Louis laughs to himself; it had always fascinated him at how much control the One Direction fandom had over social media platforms. There was one time when Harry had his hair trimmed, probably about a centimetre was taken off, and when he'd checked Twitter later that night, he had found that the fans, in a total panic had managed to get 'Goodbye Harry's hair' trending, it was rather astonishing.  
  


He was interrupted by a knock at his passenger window which made him jump; he looks up to see Liam standing there, waving manically with a huge smile on his face, wearing a pair of ridiculously oversized sunglasses.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Liam!" Louis shouts through the glass as he unbuckles his seat to get out and greet his friend. Liam walked around the car to Louis and slapped his arm on Louis' back.  
  


"It's good to see ya, mate, been a few weeks, how is everything?" asked Liam.  
  


"I know, things are okay, I s'pose... getting by," Louis retorted with a small smile. "It's great to see you, though, you're looking very sunkissed."  
  


Liam smiled one of his confident smiles and looked down at his bronze arms, "Only just got in from LA this morning, been recording some stuff." he replies.  
  


"Sweet, you'll have to send me some of it over," Louis said, nudging Liam's arm. "What are you doing here anyway?"  
  


"Oh, I've got a meeting at two with the team" states Liam, pulling a face.  
  


 _Uh-oh_ , Louis thought.  
  


"Oh, um... me too," he says, shifting awkwardly where he stood.  
  


Liam was just about to say something when he turned around, Louis looked towards the direction that Liam had turned to, just in time to see a large black range rover with darkened windows pull into the parking lot. Louis' heart was racing, his hands were sweating, and he felt as if he was going to be sick, he knew exactly who was driving that car. A wave of panic set over Louis, _please God no.  
  
_

Louis was just about to get back into his vehicle and drive away, a voice was calling his name from the entrance of the building; he looked over to see Niall standing there, beckoning them both to come inside.  
  
  


Liam grabbed Louis by the shoulder and started to guide him towards where Niall was, muttering "It'll be okay, Lou." under his breath.  
  


"Did you know he'd be here?" asked Louis.  
  


Liam shook his head as they both walked inside.  
  
  


The Modest office was just like any other corporate building, except records and posters, were splashed all over the walls, marking their greatest accomplishments. The floors were a light grey and made squeaking noises when you walked over it.

Louis had lagged behind and could hear Niall and Liam talking ahead of him, both glancing back to look at Louis every couple of seconds. He was trying with all his might to resist the urge to hot foot it out of here, get in his car and drive out of the parking lot, straight back home. But to do that, he'd have to pass the certain somebody that he could hear entering through the double doors behind him; he didn't dare turn around.  
  


The three boys were ushered into a room at the far end of a corridor and were told to take a seat by a formally dressed lady who was carrying a tray of hot water and milk, setting it down in the middle of the centred table.

 

"Mr Magee will be along any minute now, help yourself to tea and coffee," she said with an all too happy tone, as she left the room.

 

The three boys took their seats around a large table, and a deafening silence came over the room, Niall pulled out his phone and Liam was drumming his hands on the table. You could have cut the tension in the room with a knife; they were all intensely aware of the fact that things were probably going to get very awkward in a couple of minutes. Louis was sitting, looking down at his shoes and biting on a loose piece of skin on his thumb. Liam stood up to open a window and Louis very seriously considered jumping out of it.

After what felt like an eternity, the main door opened and in walked the person that had been driving the car.

 

It was Harry.

 

Louis continued to stare down at his shoes, and pretended to fix something in his pocket as the other two boys greeted him, he could hear the uncertainty in their voices as they said their hello's. His heart was racing in his chest.

  
Harry took a seat a few chairs down from Louis and placed his hands on the table.

 

"Lou..." Harry almost whispered, Niall and Liam both spin their heads around to stare at Harry, this caused Louis' head to shoot up, a little too enthusiastically.  
  
  


He took one look at Harry, he had his knee crossed over the other, his long wavy locks were tied up in a bobble, and a few stray strands were cascading down the side of his face.   
  
  
Harry was wearing tight black jeans (of course) and a pair of black suede boots, the sleeves of his sheer patterned shirt were rolled up around his tattooed arms and Louis was almost salivating.  
  


But Louis didn't say a thing, just moved his attention back down to his scuffed shoes as if they were the most interesting things in the world.  
  
  
He saw Harry shift in his seat at the rejection, the two other boys talking amongst themselves and Louis' wished more than anything that he hadn't come to this meeting.  
  


The door opened once more and in walked Harry Magee, the top bosses of the company.  
  


"Good to see you, boys!" Magee said as he took a seat at the head of the table, nobody said anything. Liam gave a polite nod in their direction, and Niall and Harry both smiled at him, Louis didn't.  
  


Nobody liked their management team, in fact - they hated them. They'd put the boys through so much over the last six years and were very highly resented by pretty much everybody that they represented. Niall and Liam had got off pretty lightly compared to what they had done to Harry and Louis. Endless fake romances and publicity stunts were apparently more important than honest hard work in their books, and that didn't sit well with any of the boys.  
  


"So, I guess you're wondering why we've brought you all here today," started Richard as he shuffled some paperwork in his hands, "we want to end the hiatus." he said bluntly and completely out of nowhere.  
  


A feeling of shock gathered around the room and all four boys stirred, Louis looked up from his feet, his brow furrowed and Liam and Niall looked at each other in a confused manner. Harry just stayed very still, listening intently.  
  


"Woah, woah, woah... hang on a minute," Liam said, holding one hand up. "Where has this come from? We were promised at least eighteen months off!"  
  


"Yes, we're very aware of the initial agreement, but things have changed since then," Magee said, matter-of-factly. "We're not asking you to get up on stage and perform tomorrow, we're asking that you start making preparations, more and more artists are releasing new material, and I hate to say it, but your fans are losing interest."  
  


This didn't go down well.  
  


Niall slammed his hand down on the table, "Are you fucking kidding me!?" he shouted, this was unusual for Niall as he was usually very chilled out.  
  


"Our fans aren't losing interest; we've been away for eight months! We've barely had enough time to see our fucking family, and you're asking for us just to lay down and do as you say?"  
  


"Mr Horan, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down, excuse me if I'm mistaken, but this is your job. You signed a contract to which you are legally bound to, and with Mr Tomlinson's current situation, there's a lot of publicity surrounding you boys at the moment, a perfect time to get you guys back together." Magee stated, with a smug smile on his wrinkly face.  
  


Louis raised his eyebrows; he was just about to say something when Harry cleared his throat, "So what you're saying is, we're not making YOU guys enough money?"   
  


Louis watched as the argument escalated, usually, he'd be at the front of any drama that was happening, but he just didn't have the energy - didn't necessarily care all that much. Louis knew that at the end of the day, Modest Management had the final say on all band related decisions, so there was no point arguing the toss with them.  
  


"What do you think, Lou?" came Harry's voice from the side of him, Louis looked directly at Harry and shrugged his shoulders.  
  


"Don't care." he stated as he stood up and walked towards the exit.  
  


"Louis, where are you going?" Liam asked, getting up from his chair.  
  


"Home." was all Louis said, letting the door slam behind him.  
  
  
  


When Louis had made it outside, he pulled out the pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one up and inhaled deeply. He couldn't quite believe what had just happened in there, he knew there would be consequences from the news of the baby drama, but he didn't think it would end up like this.  
  


The door opened behind Louis, and he heard footsteps walk towards him, he turned around and was face to face with Harry, the sun was shining on Harry's face, he really was the epitome of gorgeous. Louis hated to think it, but it was true. There was nobody in this world quite like Harry Styles.  
  


"No. No fucking way." Louis protested as he turned on his heel to walk away, throwing his cigarette down onto the floor.  
  


There was not a chance in hell that he was going to stand here and have a casual conversation with him, not after everything.  
  


"Louis, just wait!" Harry shouted reaching out for Louis' arm.  
  


"What Harry?! What do you want from me?" Louis practically screamed as he snatched his arm away from the younger boys grasp.  
  


"I just... I'm so sorry, Louis," he announced sadly, looking Louis straight in the eye. "I've been so stupid, God, so fucking stupid, ruined everything, was so fucking selfish, didn't mean for this to happen".   
  
He ran his fingers through his hair and Louis could see he was desperately trying to hold back tears.

However angry Louis was at Harry, he hated to see him cry, hated the thought of Harry being upset, and hated the idea of Harry being anything but happy.   
  
  
  
Louis' stern face softened as he listened to Harry's muffled sobs in front of him, Louis could feel tears harbouring in his own eyes as he watched the boy crumble. Harry was still staring directly at Louis, he moved towards him and reached out to touch him, this was when Louis' defence system sprang into action.  
  


This is not happening, he thought.  
  


He pushed Harry's hand away.  
  


"I'm sorry, I can't." was all Louis said as he walked away.  
  


Louis unlocked his car door, got inside and slid his keys into the ignition.   
He turned his head back towards where Harry was standing to see him kick the door where they had just exited. With that, Louis turned the steering wheel and began to drive home, his head was pounding, and all he wanted to do was get into his bed and sleep for the rest of his life.  
  


On the drive home, Louis' phone was pinging in the passenger's seat, he glanced over to see Liam's face on the screen and pressed the button on his dashboard for the Bluetooth speaker to connect up.

The call connected and Liam spoke first.  
  


"Louis, where are you?" asked Liam sounding concerned.  
  


"I'm fine, I just, I needed to get out of there, I'm nearly home, I...I can't do this today" was Louis' reply.  
  


"Right, put the kettle on, we'll be with you in an hour, gotta grab some stuff first" Liam answered back.  
  


"Who's we?" asked Louis, he wasn't exactly in the mood for company, but he was most definitely not in the mood for Harry's company.  
  


"Me and Niall, you dick. I'm not going to bloody fetch him to your house, am I?" exclaimed Liam, in a sarcastic tone. He could hear Niall in background driving.  
  


_**"FUCKING IDIOT DRIVERS, SHOULDN'T BE ON THE DAMN ROAD"** _   
  
  


Louis laughed at that, Niall wasn't the most patient driver, particularly when he was in a bad mood. Louis had more than once feared for his life while sat in the passenger seat of Niall's car.

  
Louis had been in his house no more than five seconds when the reality of what had just happened kicked in, he sits on his sofa with his head pressed into his hands trying to comprehend the whole situation. He can't quite believe he'd actually spoken to Harry, that was not on his list of things to do today.   
  
He retrieves his phone from his pocket and writes a quick text to his mum.

**Mum, when you have a chance, can you ring me? Need to talk x**

 

Louis remembered that Liam and Niall would be here shortly, so he walked into the kitchen to turn the kettle on and make himself something to eat, settling on a small sandwich.

He looked around the kitchen and realised what a mess it was, he hadn't cleaned up in a few days and the dishes were about to get up and crawl away by themselves, he didn't want his friends to see it in such a state, so he got to work.

It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when Liam and Niall arrived, carrying two brown bags from McDonald's with them.  
  
Louis could almost kiss them.

The three friends sat around and played FIFA on the PlayStation for a few hours, eating cold fries and just generally trying to avoid talking about the inevitable.

 

Eventually, the topic was brought up, and they all sat around trying to figure out what their next move was, they knew it was a done deal, and there was no point trying to fight it, but it didn't mean they had to be happy about it.

 

"I mean, I'm not trying to sound ungrateful, but I was actually quite enjoying having some time to me'self." said Niall, as he dipped a chip into the pot of sauce on the table.

 

"Yeah, me too." replied Liam, getting up off the couch to answer a phone call.

 

Louis just nodded his head in agreement, he just wanted to forget about the whole thing, the fact that seeing Harry was to become a regular occurrence, and honestly - he didn't know if he could do it.   
It was hard enough seeing him today for just a few minutes, the fact that he'd have to sing with him, sing the songs they wrote for each other, the words they felt in the prime of their relationship. It wasn't going to be easy.

When Liam returned from his phone call, his face was strained, and both Louis and Niall both picked up on it.

 

"Whats a'matter?'' Niall asked.

 

"Um, guys - that was Gemma on the phone'' started Liam, "She said Harry's left a voicemail on her phone a couple of hours ago, she's pretty worried, he's been drinking and won't answer any calls."

 

Louis and Niall both jumped up, simultaneously. They were both aware how Harry could be when he'd had a drink.

 

Harry was never a big drinker to start off with, only dabbling at parties and events. But there were a couple of times when Louis would come home to find Harry passed out on the couch, bottle in hand. It was never a massive problem, but Harry changed when he was drunk, he became... sad. Angry, even.  
  


"Lou, we can go on our own if you want?" offered Liam, gesturing to himself and Niall.  
  


But Louis was already lacing his shoes up; he needed to go with them. He was the only one who could get through to Harry when he'd been drinking.  
  


They all jumped into Louis' car and decided to check Harry's rental home first. When Harry and Louis broke up, he'd began renting out his own place, a modest two bedroomed apartment on the other side of town. Louis still remembers the day that Harry came to collect the last of his stuff, he had stayed in their bedroom under the covers, pretending it wasn't happening. He watched out of the bedroom window as Harry stepped outside the home, looking up to meet Louis' eye and eventually getting into his car and driving away.

The drive to Harry's house wasn't a long one, it gave the boys enough time to start imagining the worse, though, they were all feeling very anxious, and they stayed silent the whole ride there.

Louis circled the bend and pulled into the alcove of Harry's apartment, taking a deep breath, both him, Liam and Niall exited the car and practically ran up the entrance.  
  


When they reached the front door, Liam knocked loudly, pressing his ear up against the door to listen for any movement. He tried the doorknob, and to his surprise, it was open.  
  
Louis decided it would be best if he waited outside.

 

A few minutes had passed when Liam and Niall both emerged from the apartment, no sign of Harry.

 

"Nobody's here." stated Liam.  
  


Louis' heart sank, if Harry had been drinking and had gone out, who knows where he'd be?

They got back into Louis' car after notifying the building manager that his door was unlocked and making sure he locked it behind them.

 

The boys drove around for a while, Liam and Niall both trying Harry's phone which was now going straight to voicemail. The panic was setting in now - if Gemma was worried then they had every reason to be.

After a while, with no luck, they decided they would split up, Louis dropped Niall and Liam off at Liam's house, and they agreed to call each other straight away if they heard anything.

 

Louis drove around for another hour, checking out all the places he thought Harry might be when he realised he didn't have his phone on him, so he decided to drive back to his house, pick it up and continue looking. It was nine o'clock at night now, the sun was just setting, and a cool breeze was blowing in through Louis' window. He didn't like to drive at night; there were too many incompetent drivers about.  
  


Louis was getting increasingly worried; it wasn't like Harry to go missing and not contact anybody, he was also kind of sad to the fact that Gemma had called Liam, a year ago it would have been himself that she'd have called.  
  


He eventually made it back home and began to pull into his driveway when he noticed a figure sitting by his front door, his heart dropped... Louis' house was tucked away at the end of a wooded area, the closest house was around a mile away, he liked his privacy, so it was very uncommon for someone to just show up at his house like that.  
  


Turning the engine off, he got out of the car and began walking closer to his home, praying the figure wasn't a murderer.   
When he came to the realisation - it was Harry.  
  


He was sitting on the floor, legs spread out in front of him, with his head leaning back on Louis' front door. He hadn't even noticed Louis was there.  
  


Even when he was totally wasted, Harry was still gorgeous... nobody else could look that good after ingesting copious amounts of alcohol.   
  
Louis didn't, that's for sure.  
  


He walked quietly over to him and crouched down in front of him, noticing the half full bottle of vodka that Harry was clutching to himself.  
  


Harry lifted his head up and smiled weakly at Louis, opening his mouth to say something but Louis interrupted him.  
  


"What the hell are you playing at?!" shouted Louis, making Harry jump out of his skin, "Do you have any idea how worried your sister is? How worried I..." Louis stopped.  
  


"M'sorry" was all Harry managed.  
  


Louis softened a little; there was no use trying to reason with him right now, so he pulled Harry's arm up and guided him inside the house, turning on the lights and making a beeline for the kitchen. He plonked Harry down on a stool and ran the cold water, pouring the contents of the whisky bottle down the drain.  
  


Harry slumped in his seat, muttering something Louis couldn't quite understand.  
  


"Come on, Haz. Have a drink" Louis demanded, thrusting the glass of water into Harry's hands. He lifted his head up slightly and smiled a toothy grin at Louis.  
  


"You... you.. called me Haz" he slurred, before taking a small sip.  
  


Louis rolled his eyes at the drunken boy; there was no way he could leave him by himself in this state, he would probably choke on his own vomit at this rate. Louis hadn't ever seen Harry this way, his eyes were unfocused, his cheeks were flushed, and his usually elegant persona was nowhere to be seen.  
  


"How much have you drank?" asked Louis, completely ignoring what Harry had just said.  
  


Harry shrugged his shoulders and sat upright in his seat. Louis decided he would make Harry something to eat, at least to try and soak up _some_ of the alcohol sitting in Harry's stomach.   
Louis pottered around the kitchen, making Harry a small sandwich and a strong cup of coffee.  He took a seat next to Harry and pushed the plate at him, setting the coffee down at the side.  
  


"Eat."  
  


Harry put up a good fight, "I'm fineeeeeeeeee" he dragged out.  
  


Eventually, Louis managed to get the food down Harry's throat; it didn't seem to help. Harry was still slurring his words and lolling all over the place.  
  
  


He took Harry's arm and guided him to the living room, sitting him down on the couch before leaving the room to get him a pillow and some blankets. It took no more than two minutes to get them, but on Louis' return, Harry was fast asleep, sat upright with one shoe on.  
  


He gently pulls Harry's other shoe off, tucked the pillow under his head and covers Harry's body with the blanket, of course, it didn't quite cover the whole of Harry, he'd always been a lanky bastard.   
  
Not wanting to leave Harry alone, just yet - Louis turns on the television, late night shows were the worst, so he flicks over to a familiar channel and settled on a rerun of Friends.

About half an hour had passed, and Louis was becoming tired now, he was just about to close his eyes when Harry jumped up, scaring the living shit out of Louis' in the process.  
  


"Need to... gonna be..." was all Harry managed as he ran into the kitchen, seeking out the sink and emptying his guts into it. Louis' sprinted after him and made it into the kitchen in time to see Harry, head over the sink, making a lot of rather unattractive noises.   
  
  
The stench of vomit lingered in the air as Louis grabbed some paper towels and headed towards Harry.  
  


He was sobbing between retches and Louis placed a hand on his back, hoping to offer some comfort. Louis knew that Harry hated being sick, it was a phobia of his and Louis wasn't that much of an arsehole to not even try to help.  
  


When Harry had finished, Louis brought him the glass of water and Harry sank to the floor, knee's to his chest and his fists clenched. Louis' slid down beside him, not saying anything.  
  


"M'sorry Lou" Harry mustered up.  
  


Louis smiled weakly at Harry, "Don't worry 'bout it, nothing I haven't seen before" he replied shrugging, trying to lighten to mood.  
  


"Come on; you need to sleep."  
  


Harry stood up and followed Louis, he'd never seen Harry so vulnerable before, and it was making his heart ache. After everything that had happened between them, Louis still felt as thought it was his job to protect Harry, as stupid as it seemed, it was true.  
  


Louis decided Harry could sleep in his bed tonight, as weird as it was, they silently climbed the stairs, and Louis directed Harry towards the bedroom, the window was still open from this morning, letting a gentle breeze into the stuffy bedroom. Louis peered around the room, it wasn't the tidiest it had ever been, but it'll do.  
  


The pair stood awkwardly in the middle of the darkened room for a few seconds, Harry was looking around, and Louis suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable and vulnerable.  
  


_Was he thinking about when this used to be our room?_   
  


"Well, I'll... um... I'll take the couch tonight; I'll be downstairs if you need anything." Louis piped up and started to leave.  
  


"Wait," Harry shouted.  
  


Louis turned around to look at Harry, he looked so young and all Louis wanted to do was snake his arms around him and hold him, but that couldn't happen. He shook the thought from his head and solemnly raised his eyebrows at the boy.  
  


"Can you just, I dunno, maybe stay with me for a bit?" Harry asked.  
  


Louis was taken back by this; he had no idea that today was going to turn out this way, that all of a sudden Harry Styles was going to be thrown back into his life, that he'd be cleaning up his vomit from his sink and making sure he didn't fucking die from alcohol poisoning.  
  


"Um..." was all Louis managed.  
  


"Y'know, actually... it doesn't matter, m'sorry, was stupid of me," said Harry with a hint of sadness in his voice, he was still quite visibly intoxicated and was swaying where he stood.  
  


"I'll stay for a while," Louis offered, taking off his jacket, turning the television on and perching in the chair sat across from the bed, Harry seemed to relax a little after that, he was always very needy when he was drunk.  
  


He pretended not to notice when Harry started to fumble with his jeans; he always hated sleeping in his clothes, he even pretended not to notice when he tripped on his pant leg and almost headbutted the wall, although he did snigger subtly to himself.  
  


After a while, Harry had managed to get his jeans off, and into Louis' bed. Louis' couldn't help but smirk at the thought of what he did this morning, and where Harry was lying right now.  
  


Louis finally had some time to himself when once he heard the soft snores coming from where Harry lay.  
  


It felt so surreal; this whole day has been crazy.   
  
He thought back to the times when this _was_ Harry's bed, and it wasn't strange at all watching him sleep in it. He wasn't feeling angry with Harry anymore, just sad, sad and concerned. It wasn't like Harry to act this way, I guess it wasn't Louis' job to worry about Harry anymore, but he couldn't help it, he was always going to worry about him.   
  
People around him had never truly seen the real Harry, the young, doe-eyed Harry that cried about missing his mum and the boy that would confess all of his worries and fears to Louis' in late night heart to hearts, tucked under the covers and bathing in the light of Harry's favourite scented candles.  
  


Being in One Direction meant that they all had to grow up so fast, well - except Liam. He'd been practically middle aged since birth.  
  


Sometimes, all they wanted was to be normal, to be at home with their families, like every other teenager out there. They were overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunities they'd been given, and they probably wouldn't be able to do it without the support from their fans but, sometimes they'd sit and fantasise about what life would be like if they hadn't been in the band.   
What it would be like if they didn't have to hide their relationship and tell so many lies to the people and fans around them.   
What it would be like if they could have just been in love and free.

Louis dreamt about Harry that night.

 

 

The next morning, Louis was roused by movement at the side of him, he opened his eyes to find himself in his bed, Harry fast asleep next to him.   
Apparently, at some point in the night, Louis had gotten into bed with Harry, he doesn't remember doing it and is quite frankly surprised at his unconscious decision. He didn't want to move and risk waking Harry, so he lay there for a while, trying to steady his breathing, it had been a long time since he'd woken up next to Harry and he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself.

He reached over to his bedside table to grab his phone and noticed he'd had eleven missed calls from Niall and Liam, and one from his mum.

 _Shit_ , he thought. He was supposed to call the boys if he found Harry.  
  


He slowly lifted himself up and swung his legs out of bed, careful to not wake up the sleeping boy next to him. Harry didn't even stir.  
  


Louis walked across the bedroom and headed down the stairs to make himself a cup of tea, the floorboards creaked underneath him, and he internally willed them to shut the fuck up, he really couldn't face Harry right now.

He flicked the kettle on when he entered the kitchen and sat down to respond to Liam and Niall's calls when he noticed a new email had come through; he opened it to find a schedule for the band's reunion. They were to do a TV interview announcing the news on Thursday of this week, Louis rolled his eyes, he couldn't even be bothered to respond. He wasn't going to make things easy for them, Louis could be so stubborn when put his mind to it.  
  
It gave him three days to mentally prepare himself for the questions and the scrutiny. Not only was this the first time One Direction would be together on TV again, it would be the first time he'd made any kind of official appearance since the news about him not being a father had broken.  
  
  


He called Liam and Niall back, apologising profusely for not getting in touch sooner, he took quite the lecture from Mr Payne for that. He also called his mum too, they spent a good ten minutes just chatting,   
  
Louis told his mum about Harry, and even though she knew Harry had broken Louis' heart, she was very vocally concerned about him.  
  


"Is he okay, though?" she asked.  
  


" _Yes_ , he's fine mum, he's still upstairs asleep, I'm gonna go wake him soon" Louis replied.  
  


"Okay sweetheart, let him know I was asking of him, It's nice seeing you two talking again, love," Jay said, and Louis could almost hear her smiling through the phone.  
  


Although, this wasn't exactly true; Louis was still angry at Harry, he didn't want to ruin his mum's spirit, so he smiled and responded with a lie.  
  


Jay had always adored Harry, plenty of times Louis' had walked in on them sipping coffee and chatting amongst themselves, she knew how happy Harry had made her son, and she loved him for that.   
  
And Harry loved her right back, spoiling her on birthdays, mothers days and Christmases as if he was his own mum, they hadn't spoken in a while, not since Louis and Harry had split, and Louis knew that it hurt her deeply.  
  


The floorboards above Louis' head creaked, which told him Harry must be awake, he tried to make himself look busy as he ended the call with his mum and pottered about the kitchen, tea in hand and pacing the floor. He was nervous about facing Harry again; he was so drunk last night that he probably didn't even remember what happened, and Louis wasn't going to remind him. Louis' was pretending to read the newspaper when Harry entered the room, dressed only in his boxers and socks.

"Mornin," said Harry, groggily and with a hoarse bark to his voice.

Louis looked up to see Harry standing in the doorway, in all of his _Goddamn_ glory. Louis' tongue was practically hanging out of his mouth.  
  


"Morning," Louis replied.  
  


Harry truly was magnificent, even when he was hungover and his hair was matted against the back of his head.   
  
He also couldn't help but notice the bulge in Harry's boxers; it had been a long time since he'd seen that. He tried his hardest not to look - but sometimes, willpower isn't enough.

None of them said anything for a minute, Harry took a seat next to Louis and cleared his throat to say something.

"I'm so sorry about last night; I was a complete idiot... I didn't know what I was doing; I'm so glad we..."  
  


Louis felt nauseous now, his head was spinning, and he couldn't make sense of any of this, how did they end up back here? Louis had not forgiven Harry, not even a little bit, how is it that he's stood here almost naked in his kitchen.  
  


"I think you should go." Louis blurted out, interrupting him and immediately regretting it.  
  


And with that, Harry nodded sadly and went upstairs to gather his things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	4. You and me, got a whole lotta' history..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEEEK.
> 
> I adore writing Harry and Louis' kissing scenes. Ok here's chapter 4.  
> I'm absolutely exhausted and full of a cold so I won't be writing tonight, but i'm gonna try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, probably tuesday night.
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading, also if you have tumblr and instagram - feel free to follow me on there, my url for both is crinklyloulou :--) xx

 

It had been two days since Louis had sent Harry away that morning, and he'd spent the last forty-eight hours in a complete and utter sulk. He'd been moping around the house, eating junk food and feeling sorry for himself. Tomorrow was the day they were scheduled to appear on television announcing their reunion, releasing tour dates and singles shortly after. It had all happened so fast, and next week they would be flying out to Los Angeles to do promo, a couple of TV appearances here and a few radio shows there.

All the boys were due at Louis' house today to talk about what would be said tomorrow and how to handle everything, which usually meant they were going to get drunk and watch shit movies. But this time was different; Harry was going to be there.  
Louis was standing in his bedroom, pawing through his wardrobe trying to find something to wear and after a while, he decided on a plain grey jumper, and blue denim jeans, cuffed at the ankle's revealing his tattoo's.

The boys all arrived together at around half-past five and soon made themselves at home, lounging on the sofa and raiding Louis' fridge, all except Harry, he was sat quietly in the armchair, not speaking that much.  
Liam plugged his phone into the docking station and put on some background music, Louis and Niall were talking in the kitchen, making snacks and joking around.  
  


  
"So, um, Harry told me about the other night." marvelled Niall while scoffing down a bag of crisps.  
  


"Nothing happened." retorted Louis.  
  


Niall laughed and smirked at Louis, "Sure Tommo."  
  
  


As Niall and Louis wandered back into the living room, Harry and Liam were discussing something privately in hushed tones, jumping apart when they noticed the other two boys. Louis and Niall raised their eyebrows at each other but carried on nevertheless. They laid the food down on the table and sat down, Niall next to Harry and Louis and Liam on the couch opposite them.  
  


"So, are we actually going to talk about tomorrow?" asked Liam, in the strict parent voice he usually saved for just Louis.  
  


"I'm a bit nervous t'be honest," said Niall. "Not been on telly in a while, plus that Holly Willoughby is dead fit."  
  


They all laughed.  
  


"I'm thinking about blacklisting the baby stuff," announced Louis. "I mean, I don't want it to be all about that, I kinda wanna just forget it every happened if I'm truthful."  
  


"Whatever you do, we've got your back." smiled Liam.  
  


Louis shot a look over at Harry.  
  


"Ha." he muttered under his breath, knowing full well it was a cheap shot, but he couldn't help himself.  
  


Liam, Harry and Niall were all deep in conversation when Louis decided he needed a stronger drink than Pepsi and headed to the kitchen. He was just opening the door of the fridge when he felt a presence behind him; he turned his head to see Harry standing there, looking remarkably like he did the other morning - but with more clothes on.  
  


"Lou." Harry started in his deep droll of a voice. "Can we talk about the other night?"  
  


Louis shrugged his shoulders as he opened the bottle of Corona, "Nothing t'say." he remarked. He actually had a lot of things to say.  
  


"Please? I just want things to go back to normal, well... just better than what they are now." Harry pleaded.  
  


"Harry, you ended things with ME, why are you so intent on us getting back to normal?" Louis quipped before taking a sip of the cold beer.  
  


"I just miss you, is all."  
  


This struck a chord with Louis, _I MISS YOU TOO YOU BIG FUCKING IDIOT_ , was all Louis wanted to scream, but he didn't, he couldn't let himself be hurt again, the boy standing in front of him had absolutely no idea on the power he held over Louis.  
  


"Look Haz; I can't do any more than this, getting over you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, I can't let myself be close to you again, you broke my fucking heart."  
  


Harry looked as though he had been punched in the face, the hurt he was feeling was so visible, yet Louis couldn't let himself fall for it. If he did that, his whole armour would crack, and he wasn't sure if Harry would be able to pick up the pieces.  
  


Louis excused himself and joined the other boys back in the living room, with Harry following suit.  
  


The night went on, and Louis and Harry barely spoke again. The four boys talked about music, the tour and Zayn was even brought up a couple of times. It was still a sore subject for Harry as he visibly winced at the mention of his name.  
When it was time for them to leave, they said their goodbyes and Liam announced he would drive the other two boys home, Niall agreed, Harry made up some excuse about needing the toilet, and told the other two boys he'd find his own way home.  
  


Liam and Niall weren't convinced as they shared knowing looks whilst walking out of the front door.  
  


Harry lingered in the doorway of Louis' home, brows furrowed and staring at Louis who was sat on the couch, feeling rather hazy from the bottles of beer he'd drank.  
Louis was completely aware that he was standing there but was pretending to fix something in his pocket, he never could quite catch his breath when Harry was staring at him and maybe it was the alcohol talking, but he wanted nothing more than for Harry to stay, like old times. For them to lie on the couch together, talking about nothing and everything in between.

He looked up at Harry, who was still standing there and made the conscious decision to roll with his thoughts, he patted the cushion on the couch next to him, Harry didn't hesitate and took a seat next to Louis.  
  


The two boys sat in silence for a moment, both of them unsure of what was going to happen, both holding their breaths in case it offended the other.

Louis was the first to speak,  
  


"Why'd you do it Haz?" he asked, staring into the distance, not wanting to look Harry in the eye.  
  


Harry took a deep breath. "I was scared, Louis."

"So much was happening, the whole baby thing, the band splitting up, even Zayn leaving, I was stupid and selfish, but I was so scared, management was pushing so hard on the baby drama, and I just felt like I was losing you. It was the wrong decision, and I know that now, I've spent the last six months regretting the decision with all my heart."  
  


Louis' eyes were stinging, and he was desperately trying to hold back his tears when Harry turned to face him and rested his arm on Louis' shoulder.  
  


"I'm so sorry, baby." he sniffled.  
  


Louis looked at Harry, who had tears rolling down his face. "I can't forgive you, Harry, you have no idea how much you've hurt me, don't you see that?" he cried. "I lost my soulmate, the love of my fucking life and I've been so alone these past few months, I've had to deal with all of this bullshit on my own."  
  


"I'm sorry," Harry replied. "Can we please start again, pretend it never happened? I miss you; I love you so much, Louis Tomlinson."  
  


Louis knew deep down that he loved Harry too, but he wasn't ready for that, he had to protect himself.  
  


"Haz, no. I'm not ready for that, I...I don't trust that you won't do it again."  
  


"Let me prove it to you, give me a chance, Louis. I promise I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you, I don't ever want to lose you ever again, you have been the centre of my world for over six years now," replied Harry, his eyes wide and pleading.  
  


Louis reached out for Harry's hand, he held it ever so gently against his own and whispered, "Let's take it slow, just be my friend again."  
  


Harry wasn't going to argue with this, he smiled a genuine smile at Louis, and they sat there for a while, not saying anything... just being.

  
The next morning was a whirlwind of makeup, hair fluffing and arguing over the bathroom at the television studio. All four boys were extremely nervous to announce their reunion, and it was definitely showing.  
  


"Payno, I swear to fucking God, if you don't let me in that bathroom, I'm coming in and pissing whether you're there or not" Louis shouted through the door.  
  


"It takes time and expertise to look this good, Tommo" Liam replied cockily.  
  


_Right, that's it_ , Louis thought as he opened the door. Not quite able to comprehend the sight that lay before him. Liam was scrunched over the edge of the skin; leg bent upwards resting on it with a razor in his hand attempting to shave his ankles.  
  


They both stared at each other for a moment.  
  


"I... um... yeah," said Louis, turning on his heel and practically running out of the door and almost falling over from laughing.

 _Now that's an image I'm never going to forget_ ; he thought, both physically and mentally disturbed.  
  


Still laughing, Louis turned the corner at the end of the brightly decorated hallway and bumped right into Harry, which almost sent him flying, Louis was sure Harry was made of bloody steel.  
He looked Harry up and down and raised his eyebrows, he was wearing a white button up shirt with tight black jeans and a pair of rather expensive looking shoes, his long fingers donned chunky rings, and his hair was sat loosely around his face, cascading down his back and curling up around his shoulders.  
  


"Nice of you to join us," Louis announced digging Harry in the side.  
  


"Hey, yeah, sorry... overslept, some idiot kept me awake last night chewing me ear off" he replied with a smug smile.  
  


It was nice that Louis and Harry could talk again, he knew it would take a while before he felt completely comfortable with it, but Louis had decided, he was going to take his time and just go with the flow.  
They stood talking in the corridor for a few moments before they were whisked away to do some mic adjustments before heading onto the stage to announce their reunion.

Louis had kept to his word yesterday and had blacklisted all topics to do with the baby, it was the absolute last thing on his mind at the moment, and as far as he was concerned, it was done, no need to even discuss it any longer, people can think what they like - Louis was never really the kind of person to care what others thought of him.  
  


Besides, about ninety percent of the fandom knew it was all bullshit anyway.

The interview came and went, and all four boys left the stage hyped up and feeling a lot more relaxed than when they went on.  
  


"Yes, lads!" shouted Liam jumping up behind Louis, "We're back!"  
  


It was rather funny that four days ago, all four boys were repulsed at the idea of reuniting, but something had changed - they were excited. It suddenly felt alright, like it was their time.  
  


As they were getting ready to leave, a member of their PR team gathered them in Harry's dressing room, she was beaming and waving a phone around in the boys' faces.

"You might want to take a look at Twitter," she exclaimed, thrusting a phone into Harry's hand.

"Fuck. Me." was all he managed.  
  


One Direction had taken up all ten slots of the trending list, and people were freaking the fuck out, they all took their own phones out and watched as what seemed like the entire world blew up.  
  


Louis noticed a text message on his phone between all of the notifications, opened it up to find it was from Zayn.

**Proud of you lads, miss you, Z. x**  
  
  


Louis felt a pang in his chest, with everything that had gone on in the past week, he hadn't even spoken to Zayn since the night they went out together, he texts him back straight away, thanking him and telling him they should hang out again soon. Louis would make sure it happened.  
  


Liam suggested that they go out tonight to celebrate, and that's exactly what they did, the boys all retreating to their houses before meeting up later on that evening.  
  


Arriving together at a club felt so strange, camera's flashing in their faces and an endless chorus of "LOUIS, LIAM, HARRY, NIALL" echoed around them as they made their way into the club.

The air was heavy as they walked in through the entrance, the club was full to the brim with people dancing and having a good time. All four boys were in high spirits as they were escorted into the V.I.P section at the back, they all sat down and immediately ordered a round of drinks for the table. A couple of girls were lingering behind the rope to the section the boys were in; they were trying to get their attention by dancing and waving in the boys' direction, Louis and Harry were too wrapped up in their own little world to even notice them.

Liam being Liam whispered something to the bouncer, and he let them in, both appeared to be a little starstruck at first as their previous flirty manner was replaced with nervous laughter and one of them even knocked Niall's drink over.

Harry was never at his most comfortable in a club, he much preferred a small pub or a restaurant, but he knew Louis' loved the atmosphere of these places, so he sat and enjoyed himself with the rest of the boys.  
The drinks were flowing, and everybody was talking amongst themselves, Louis and Harry shooting each other looks which were getting more and more flirtatious after every drink they downed.

After a few drinks, Louis decided he wanted to dance, but nobody wanted to go with him. Liam and Niall were too busy flirting with the girls from before, and Harry wasn't quite drunk enough to drag his long limbs up to the dancefloor and risk making a complete fool out of himself by doing the sprinkler.  
  


"FINE, I'll dance by myself." he slurred, dramatically flipping the barrier and making his way down to the dancefloor. Now, Louis wasn't the most elegant of dancers, but he was especially clumsy and gangly when he'd had a drink, even though in his head; he thought he was Michael Jackson.  
  


He'd been dancing for a few minutes when he felt somebody pressing up against the back of him; he turned around to see a beautiful red headed girl moving her body in time with his own and taking to flinging her arms around his neck and pushing her body up onto his.  
Louis was in such a good mood that he didn't mind, they happily danced together for a few minutes, Louis showing off his "moves" when out of nowhere, the girl leant in and smacked her lips down on top of Louis'. She licked her tongue between the entrance of Louis' mouth, asking for permission when Louis finally realised what was happening.  
  


He was in total shock; it had been a long time since a girl in a club had thrown herself at him, he didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he gently pulled her arms off his neck and whispered: "Sorry love, the ladies don't necessarily do it for me."  
  


In reality, he knew he shouldn't have said it but it just kinda... slipped out? The girl looked utterly dumbstruck, and Louis decided to make a quick exit back to the boys. Pushing his way through the crowds of grinding people was a task and a half, and when he finally got back to the section, he noticed that Harry was missing.  
  


"Oi, Nialler," Louis shouted, waving his hands to get the blonde boys attention, "Where Haz gone?"  
  


"Dunno mate said, he needed some air!" Niall called back over the loud music, shrugging his shoulders.  
  


Louis decided he'd go outside for a cigarette and see if Harry was there.  
  


When he arrived outside, he lit his cigarette up and managed to sneak past the paps that were waiting on the right-hand side of the club; he noticed Harry a few yards down the road attempting to hail a taxi.  
  


"HARRY!" he shouted to the boy.

"OI, HARRY."  
  


If Harry had heard him, he did a fantastic job at pretending he didn't, and just as Louis started to walk towards the boy, a taxi pulled up in front of Harry, and he quickly got in. All Louis could do was watch as he saw the taxi speed off down the road, leaving Louis stood in the middle of the street, confused and a bit pissed off.  
Louis had absolutely no idea why Harry had just taken off like that, and suddenly he wasn't in the partying mood anymore. He trudged back inside to let the guys know he'd be leaving, called himself a taxi and travelled home.

 

It was early morning on the first of September and Louis, along with the rest of the boys had just touched down in LA, jet-lagged after their gruelling twelve-hour flight from London. They weren't due to do any interviews until the fourth, so as they were all completely exhausted, they decided they would go to the hotel, unpack and have some rest before meeting up later.

Louis still hadn't spoken to Harry since the night he left the club, he'd tried to call plenty of times, but Harry not once picked up. The flight was a long and awkward one, Louis slept most of the way as it was a lot better than sitting across from Harry who wouldn't even look him in the eye. When they arrived in the departure lounge at the airport, there were two black SUV's with tinted windows waiting for them; the two drivers were holding up signs which read Liam and Niall and of course, what a coincidence, Harry and Louis. The four boys said their goodbye's and jumped into their cars, Harry and Louis sitting across from each other pretending the other person wasn't there.  
  


The journey to the hotel was a quiet one; the radio was playing in the background as Louis stared out of the window, taking in the heaving streets of Los Angeles.  
  


Life was so different out here, so different to the one Louis lead in London, he never felt as though he belonged here, but Harry had always made it feel better. Harry thrived in the fast-paced city, blending in like he was one of them, whereas Louis stuck out like a sore thumb.

Louis remembers one particular evening; it was their first time in LA after The X Factor, both bright-eyed and full of wonder when Harry had woken Louis up in the early hours of the morning and drove him out to the edge of a rocky hillside. They lay on the floor in the dewy grass - looking up at the stars and huddling close beneath a blanket. He remembers the promises they made to each other that night as they stole kisses under the light of the moon and held each other tight; never wanting to let go.

_"I will love you until the end of time."_  
  


  
When the boys arrived at the hotel, it was surprisingly quiet outside; they opened the car door to be greeted by their security guard - Paul, he ushered the boys in through the back entrance and produced their room keys, Louis marvelling in the fact he wouldn't have to wait around in the lobby.  
  


When Louis arrived at his room, he pressed the key card up against the door and practically collapsed into it. He was unbelievably exhausted; he had always hated flying, but the last time he flew, he'd had his own personal comfort blanket in Harry. The flight he'd just exited from was a stiff, cold and uncomfortable one.

He lay down on the king sized bed, and without even getting under the covers, he fell asleep.  
  
  


**Dream/Flashback.**

It was nearing midnight, and the boys had just got back to the house after performing for the first time live on The X Factor, Niall was lying in his bed with his earphones on, and Liam had already passed out on his bed.  
Harry and Louis were both sat cross-legged in Louis' bed watching their performance on Harry's laptop; they'd performed Coldplay - Viva La Vida and they were both still very much hyped up from singing live for the first time.  
  


"I can't get over it, I've never felt anything like that in my life!" whispered Louis as he lay back on the bed staring up at the ceiling  
.

"You were incredible, Lou," Harry said genuinely as he did the same, resting his head on Louis' pillow.  
  


A heavy silence fell upon the room, Louis turned to face Harry and asked, "Do you really think I did okay?"  
  


Harry nodded. Louis could have slipped and fallen flat on his face, dragging the rest of the boys with him and Harry would have still thought that the sun shone out of Louis' backside. The two boys lay like this for a while, just looking at each other.  
  


"You wanna go for a midnight snack?" Harry suggested, flicking his eyebrows up and showing a look of deviance.  
  


The two boys tip-toed out of Louis' room, down the stairs and into the kitchen. They decided to make brownies, and even though Louis didn't have the first clue how to make them, Harry happily guided him.  
  


"I used to be a baker!" exclaimed Harry proudly, as he quite professionally whisked the batter in the bowl. Louis watched Harry; he spent a lot of time watching Harry, everything he did was just so... charming? Louis was fastly becoming obsessed with this curly haired boy.  
  


The two pottered about in the kitchen waiting for the brownies to bake when Louis' playfully flicked flour at Harry, it was there, at that moment that Harry declared war.  
They chased each other around the kitchen, laughing and making a lot of unnecessary noise. Flour completely covered the room, and the two boys as they both fell to the floor in a heap giggling and shouting, "I SURRENDER."  
  


When the laughter had died down, they both sat up and admired the mess they had made.  
  


"Y'know, I'm glad I was stood next to you at the urinals... if I had to get someone's pee splashed on me, I'd much rather have your pee than his pee," Louis stated, with a wicked smile on his face.  
  


This sent Harry into a fit of hysterics, and Louis just sat and watched him with such admiration on his face, the younger boy with the curly hair and the gorgeous smile.

"Lou..." Harry started, suddenly becoming very serious. He reached out to wipe a bit flour of Louis' face, and when it was all gone, he didn't move his hand. Louis' heart started to beat faster, the mere touch of Harry was enough to send Louis' into a tizzy.  
  


Harry leant in closer to Louis until there was no more than an inch between them, Louis could feel Harry's breath on his face, and he moved in that little bit more and closed the gap.

Harry pressed his warm lips onto Louis', holding them there for just a second before moving them to kiss him. Louis' couldn't believe what was happening, he could have sworn that actual fireworks had just exploded around them, their hearts pattering against their chests.  
The kiss was soft and sweet, innocent and gentle.  
  
They both moved in time with each other, deepening the kiss and wrapping each other up. Harry's tongue beckoning at the parting of Louis' lips and Louis granted him entrance; the kiss was becoming more now like they needed each other's air to breathe, it was only when the oven timer started to beep, signalling the brownies were done when they moved apart, not once breaking eye contact.  
Harry moved a strand of hair out of Louis' face and kissed him on the nose before jumping up to retrieve the brownies.

Louis stayed on the floor, not quite able to move after that.  
  


It was right there and then that Louis knew this boy had his heart, that he would do just about anything to make him happy and it scared him, but he'd never felt anymore more right in his entire life.

 

Louis wakes up feeling rather flustered and discombobulated. He looked around the hotel room, checking the clock and realising he'd been asleep for six hours, the sun was setting outside which coloured the room in a pale orange shade. He pads to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, the image of his younger self and Harry still burning in the back of his mind.

When he's finished in the bathroom, he zips open his suitcase and grabs a pair of joggers and a jumper knowing exactly what his next move was. He heads outside of the door, locks it behind him and walks down the hall to the room he knew Harry was staying in.

Taking a deep breath in, he knocks quietly on the door and waits patiently, hoping Harry would answer.  
Wondering if he was even in there, Harry had a lot of friends in LA.

He hears the door start to unlock, and when it opens, a bedraggled looking Harry is stood there, dressed only in his boxers and socks, hair tied up in a knot rubbing at his eyes.

Louis doesn't even bother asking Harry if he can come in as he barges past him and sits himself down on the dressing table chair.  
  


"Hi Louis, nice to see you... oh do come in!" says Harry sarcastically to the space where Louis' was just standing.  
  


"Don't be a dick," mutters Louis' with a touch of annoyance in his voice.  
  


"I want to know what we're doing, Haz. One minute we're fine and trying to make things right and the next... the next you're leaving me stood outside a club without even so much as a goodbye."  
  


Harry rubs at his eyes once more, "I was sleeping, Louis." is all he says.  
  


Louis raises his eyebrows, taken aback by Harry's cold exterior.  
  


Harry walks over to the mini fridge and grabs a bottle of water, still not saying anything or even looking at Louis.  
  


"Harry, would you tell me what's going on?" begged Louis.  
  


Harry turns to look in Louis' direction, his eyes staring straight past him and resting on a space on the wall.  
  


"Give it up, Louis. Don't pretend you care; I saw you that night." snarled Harry.  
  


"Saw me do what, exactly?!" Louis demanded, quite loudly.  
  


"You're not even going to admit it," Harry laughed back at him. "The girl... in the club, I saw you kiss her Louis."  
  


Louis couldn't help but laugh, was Harry joking? Was he playing a prank him?  
When Harry didn't laugh, Louis realised he was serious.

"Please tell me you don't actually think I kissed her? Harry? For God's sake, I'm bloody gay, you know I'm gay... and if you don't well, I'm sorry but what the hell was my dick doing in your mouth for the last two years?!" Louis shouted back at him.  
"She kissed me, Harry. I was drunk; my reaction was delayed, I didn't even realise what was going on, and when I did... I stopped, I even fucking told her I was gay, knowing full well it will probably be plastered all over the pages of a trashy magazine in the next few days." continued Louis.  
  


"If you even thought for a second that I would kiss some random girl, in a club then I'm afraid you don't know me at all, Harry. How could I even think about kissing another human being when I'm still completely in love with, you absolute arsehole!"  
  


This revelation shocked Harry into silence, his mouth hanging open at an odd angle.  
  


"You're still in love with me? But..." started Harry but was interrupted by Louis jumping up from the bed and grabbing Harry by the shoulders.

They stared at each other for a few moments, before giving into the moment.

Louis' crashed his lips down onto Harry's thrusting him backwards in the process, knocking over the bottle of water that Harry had opened.

It took a few seconds before Harry could react, and when he did, he spun Louis around and pushed him up against the wall, his hands trailing all over Louis' body. Louis felt as though every moment in his life had been leading up to this one, the feeling of Harry's muscular body pressed up against his torso, his hands running all over his body and the bulge in Harry's boxers pressing up against his thigh. Their hot breaths were mingling in each other's throats, and their tongues were sliding together in unison. Louis' felt his own cock getting hard in his jeans, and the feeling of Harry grinding up against him was almost enough to send him over the edge, he slowed the kiss down and grabbed hold of Harry's hand, leading towards the bed, knowing full well what was about to happen.

When all of a sudden, Harry stopped the kiss abruptly.

"Lou, Louis..." he said panting, "Can we just..."

Louis' stepped back from Harry; maybe he'd misjudged the situation, maybe this isn't what Harry wanted.

Harry could see the confused look on Louis' face and reached out to cup his cheeks.

"I want this, I want you more than anything... but I want it to be right, I don't want some quick fumble in a hotel room, I want you, in every single way possible." he started, sincerely.

"I've waited so long for this, Lou, you don't even understand... and you have no idea how much I want to throw you down on that bed and fuck you senseless, and I'm probably going to regret this in a couple of minutes but... can we wait?"

Louis knew what he wanted, and what he wanted was for Harry to be happy, even if his cock was screaming at him from beneath his jeans. He looked Harry in the eye, pulled him closer and kissed him on the cheek.

"Baby, I'd do anything for you... anything."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY. I'M JUST SORRY.
> 
> DON'T HATE ME. <3


	5. You're all I want, so much it's hurting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again!   
> I hope people are enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it. The story so far has taken a different turn to what I initially had planned out but I think this is much better than my original idea.
> 
> Let me know if you like it? Or if you don't? Is there anything in particular that you want to happen? If so, comment below and I'll try to incorporate it in, there's nothing worse than reading a fic and internally screaming no as it does something you disagree with :')
> 
> Thanks for reading lovelies, it means the world xx

"So, tell me. Why now? Why so sudden?" asks the brunette host sitting across from the boys, looking at Louis in particular.

"It just felt right," Liam answers, smiling, "For me, it was never going to be permanent, I can't speak for the rest of the boys, but I can't think of anything else I'd rather do."

Liam's revelation seemed to satisfy the prying host, the elephant in the room was quite clearly at the forefront of her mind, glancing over at Louis every now and again trying to provoke some kind of statement from him. The boys were very aware of it and were working together to making things as easy as possible for him, jumping in to answer questions and trying their best to steer the conversation in their direction.

"Okay, so guys, I hear you've got some very exciting news for us, care to elaborate?" she asked.

Niall was the one to announce the news, he sat upright in his seat and turned to face the main camera.

"We're gonna' be releasing tickets next week on the seventh, for our 'Made in the AM' tour which kicks off on January the eleventh, 2017."

The host almost squealed in her seat, obviously very excited by the fact that she was the one to get the world exclusive.

"You heard it here first, guys! One Direction are back and kicking off a brand new tour; more details will be up on our website, we're going to take a short break now but do join us back here in five minutes," she announced as the camera's stopped rolling, and the host jumped up out of her seat to thank the boys.

When they eventually made it back to their dressing rooms, Liam and Louis flopped down onto the couches and closed their eyes.

"She was a perky little minx, wasn't she?" laughed Niall, helping himself to the food laid out on the table.

Harry was fiddling with the top button on his shirt, standing in front of the long length mirror in the corner of the room.

Louis and Harry had been getting on great since that night in the hotel room; they were both being extremely patient with each other and testing the waters before jumping into anything. The four boys were in such a different place to where they were just a week ago; there was no tension or awkwardness, and they were just enjoying each others company.

Of course, Louis wasn't entirely ready to forgive Harry just yet; he quite often found himself still lying awake at night feeling alone and lashing out at Harry unexpectedly. Louis had quite the bitter tongue on him when he was feeling low, he often spoke first and thought later - but Harry never resented him for it. He knew just how much he'd hurt Louis, and he really was willing to do anything to make up for his stupidity.

It was around four-thirty in the afternoon, the boys had finished their promo for the day and were on the way back to their hotel to lounge about - maybe do a bit of writing. Louis and Harry were sat next to each other in the back of the car, a comfortable silence was lingering, and Louis' eyes were feeling heavy, he hated to sleep anywhere other than a bed but sometimes, needs must. He fought for as long as he could to keep his eyes open, but finally gave in and let himself drift into a light doze.

It wasn't a long drive back to the hotel, so when Louis' started to rouse, his body jerking as they drove over a speed bump, he flicked his eyes open and noticed he was resting his head against Harry's chest. He could feel the firm chest beneath him rising and falling in a slow manner. Harry could sleep anywhere, so Louis wasn't surprised the younger boy had drifted off.  
He really did not want to move, and when the driver announced their arrival, Louis could have kicked him.

"Haz." he almost cooed, marvelling in the image of a sleeping Harry, while nudging Harry's shoulder hoping not to make him jump.

His eyes opened slowly, and he stretched out in his seat, his long legs spread out in front of him.

 _God, you're cute_ , Louis thought.

Back in the hotel room, Louis was pulling off his t-shirt and about to take a shower when there was a knock at his bedroom door.

"S'open!" he shouted, which in hindsight - probably wasn't a good idea, considering the mob of fans which were waiting for them when they pulled up at the hotel.

The door creaked open and Louis' was quite bloody relieved to see Harry, standing there with his hands on his hips throwing a wolf whistle towards Louis.

"Bugger off, Haz," Louis laughed, unbuckling the belt on his jeans, "Y'alright?"

"Yeah, um... just wonderin' if you had any plans for tonight?" he asks eagerly.

"No, don't think so; unless them two have planned summat." he replies.

Harry's face spreads into a smile, "Okay, well do you wanna hang out?" he hesitates for a moment before continuing. "I mean, I'm contracted to make an appearance at Kendall Jenner's magazine launch party in the evening, but like, you can come with... if you want that is? Don't have to, just a suggestion."

He sounds nervous; his usually cool and charming demeanour had vanished.

Louis rolled his eyes at the last bit; their management team seemed to love pairing Harry and Kendall together, he also knew that if he did go - they couldn't be spotted together anyway.  
It was perfectly fine for the group to go out as a foursome, but even after everything, Louis and Harry still weren't "allowed" to be seen together in fear of starting up the 'Larry Stylinson' rumours again. Which was pretty fucking hilarious considering he'd spent the majority of the last four years with his cock up Harry's arse.

"Lou?" Harry called, pulling Louis from his train of thoughts.

"Right, if I agree to come tonight... I have some conditions" Louis stated, his face turning up into an evil smile.

"Oh yeah?" responded Harry, taking a step closer to the now shirtless, and pantless Louis.

Louis bit down on his lip, putting on his best seductive face and leaning in towards Harry, whispering into his ear... "You have to buy me McDonald's, aaaand we arrive at the party together."

Louis knew that this would piss their management off, but what could they do? They weren't going to be walking into the party sucking each other off and proclaiming their undying love for one another, so there wasn't any harm to be done.

Harry was hesitant but agreed; he felt the same way Louis did, he was sick of the lies and deceit - what was so wrong about the pair of them hanging out?

  
"Right, okay," decided Harry, "Let's do it."

Harry left Louis to take a shower although he wasn't in the least bit happy about it.

This was the first time Louis and Harry were going to be seen in public together, just the two of them, in over two years and Louis was a little nervous. Not because he cared what management said, he was nervous about being alone with Harry in LA. The previous years had seen them spend a lot of time in the 'City of Angels', finding secret little hideaways and quiet nooks tucked way away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Los Angeles.

Louis looks down at his soapy body in the shower, paying special attention to the inkings on his body which visibly told his and Harry's story. He thought about the younger boy's anchor which matched perfectly up with the rope that circled his wrist. The ship that was guided by Louis' compass which branded his inner right forearm. Their love was quite literally written in the stars, the 'Hi' and 'Oops' that had started their journey was always going to be Louis' favourite.

Louis finished up in the shower and took a step out of the cubicle and into the steamy bathroom, he took a look at himself in the mirror, and the reflection didn't please him. His eyes donned heavy circles beneath them, a dark shadow coated the bottom of his chin, and his hair was in dire need of a trim. He took out his razor and got to work on the beard.

Standing back from the bathroom mirror to admire his work and he's quite pleased with himself, who knew that all it would take was a bit of shaving foam and a sharp blade to make Louis' look a little less like a zombie.

He could hear the street's getting busier through the open window of his hotel room window, and he shivered slightly, his torso still wet from his shower. He looked at the time on his phone, it was a quarter past five and him, and Harry were due to go out at six.

Louis being Louis, still hadn't unpacked all of his clothes, so he rummaged through the suitcase trying to find something that wasn't wrinkled, _what do you even wear to a party hosted by a bloody Kardashian,_ Louis thought, as he sniffed a conspicuous looking sock from the bottom of his suitcase - it had definitely been there a while. He finally settled on a white t-shirt which had a small print on the pocket and a pair of his signature black jeans, _can't go wrong;_ he thought smiling to himself as he pulled the shirt over his head.

Knock, knock, came the door. "S'only me," called Harry's voice from the other side, turning the knob and entering Louis' room. He was wearing a pale blue shirt which was unbuttoned to reveal Harry's tanned chest; his swallow tattoo's peeking out. "You look nice, love." With that, they were both headed out of the door.

"It's a bit early isn't it, Haz?" Loui started as the elevator doors opened and they arrived in the hotel lobby, "Who has a party at six o'clock in LA?"

Harry smirked at Louis, the dimples in his face making and appearance and nearly causing Louis to faint where he stood. How on earth was it fair that Harry had been created the way he had and then for him to have dimples on top of being the most gorgeous thing on this planet? Louis had a mental image of a doe-eyed little girl who bore Louis' nose and Harry's dimples. Yikes.

"The party isn't until later, we're going somewhere else first," he replied, smiling at Louis. Oh boy, was he intrigued, now.

They took a deep breath before exiting through the main doors of the hotel, bracing themselves for camera's being thrust in their faces and groups of fans pleading with them for pictures. The boys were feeling generous tonight, so they stopped and posed with fans for a while, declining to even talk to the paparazzi who were desperately trying to get a rise out of them. Louis could sense the shock on the fans faces at the two boys being seen together and couldn't help but snigger. They were probably going to get a very stern phone call from their management in the morning - but he didn't care.  
Neither of them did.

The sun was beginning to dip into the horizon as Harry and Louis said goodbye to the fans, and they headed around the corner, escorted by the hotel security to Harry's car which Paul had parked a couple of yards down the road.

"Where are we going?" asked Louis, giving Harry an evil look as they both entered the car, Harry in the driver's seat and Louis in the passenger side.

 _He looked so fucking hot when he drove_ , thought Louis as he shamelessly checed out Harry's flexed muscles, watching him as he handled the steering wheel and guided them out of the parking area.

"You'll see, just be patient dear." replied Harry.

The two boys chatted mindlessly on the way, talking about their upcoming tour and how they were due to fly back to the UK in a couple of days to begin rehearsals and promotion.

"I can't believe we haven't sung together in almost a year..." Harry said with a touch of sadness in his voice as he manoeuvred the car in and out of the rush hour traffic. The last time the boys sang together was the night that Harry had broken up with Louis, and both boys winced as they remembered that night.

"You'll never know how sorry I am, Louis."

Louis allowed his hand drop onto Harry's thigh, giving him an understanding squeeze - although even after that, he didn't move his hand.  
Louis noticed they were driving outside of the city now and he watched as the Harry took sharp turns around long and rocky roads, the atmosphere so different to how it was back in Downtown LA. The roads were empty, and the long stretch of road in front of them seemed to go on for miles, the sky was dark now, and the stars were twinkling above them.

Eventually, the car started to slow down, and Harry pulled up in a little lay-by out on the very edge of the road.

He turned the engine off and jumped out of the car, practically running around to Louis's side to hold the door open for him. It was an incredibly chivalrous thing to do, but Louis couldn't help but find it funny, "Why, thank you, Harold,," he said as he exited the car, his legs spread out in an ungainly manner, "I do hope the paparazzi aren't around to take any sneaky crotch shots."

Harry laughed, loudly as he strolled around to the back of the car and lifted open the boot, pulling out a wicker basket and a blanket.

Louis was scratching his head and looking around at his surrounding when it hit him; he knew exactly where he was. This was the hillside that he and Harry used to sneak off to late at night, eating doughnuts and watching the world go by. You could see nearly the whole of LA from here, and it was honestly a breathtaking sight.

"Harry," Louis started in a soft voice, but Harry didn't say anything; just took Louis by the arm and guided him down to a grassy spot where he laid out the blanket. He sat down, his long legs crossed and his hands holding his body up from behind. He patted the blanket next to him and gestured for Louis to sit down too.

"I just thought it would be nice for us to come back here," Harry finally piped up, "We were so young when we were here last, full of hope and a fire in our belly... I wanted to remind you of those two boys." Louis nodded slowly at Harry letting the memories in and playing them out in his mind. They sat in silence for a while, just staring out into the open watching the bright lights of LA flicker in the distance, the air was cool and refreshing on their skin, and the moon was gently rising in front of them, bathing them in a milky white light.

"I'm fuckin' starving'..." Louis announced, suddenly remembering the basket of goodies Harry was sitting next to, "I bloody swear to God, Harold, if there is anything in here that was organically grown and not baked or fried then you are in big trouble." Harry's love of vegetables was quite worrying sometimes, the only vegetable Louis liked was potato, and even then - that was only when they been sliced and cooked in a deep fat fryer.

"You'll be pleasantly surprised, my love," replied Harry and Louis could tell it was killing him not being able to protest and lecture Louis on the pro's, and con's between an organic carrot and a regular carrot. Louis laughed at Harry's innocence, he truly loved this boy in front of him, loved every bone in his body but he was still yet to break down his own personal barrier to truly let him in.

Louis' phone began vibrating in his pocket, and the took it out to see his mum's name flashing on the screen - she was attempting to video chat with him. He clicked the green button to connect the call and shuffled a couple of centimetres away from Harry, the phone directed at Louis' face.

"Hello?" he called when his mum hadn't said anything, turns out the call had frozen, and her face was stuck in a hilarious way on Louis' screen. When they finally got it to work, his mum was celebrating the fact that she'd finally won a fight with technology, Louis laughed at her naivety and asked her if everything was okay, it wasn't like her to just video call him out of the blue.

"Yes, love - everything's fine, was just seeing how you were," she replied in her cheery voice, "Where are you? It's so dark; I can barely see you!"

"I'm just, um..."

"Who's that next to you, Lou? Is it one of the boys, am I interrupting something?" she asked concerned.

Louis gulped and turned the phone to face towards Harry who was looking a little like a deer caught in headlights, "Hi Jay" was all he said, Louis felt a little sorry for him, it must be extremely awkward speaking to his ex-boyfriend's mum for the first time in a while. Well, at least Louis thought it would be... but within seconds, Harry had taken the phone off of Louis and was having a full blown conversation with Jay, walking around the spot they were sitting in. Harry would always walk around aimlessly when talking on the phone.

Seeing Harry and his mum talk again made Louis extremely happy, he sat watching the tall boys as he smiled and gave Louis a thumbs up.

"She said she'd call you tomorrow," Harry said as he walked back over to Louis. He knew she would most definitely call tomorrow, wanting to know all about his and Harry's little rendezvous.

Harry sat down next to Louis; his legs stretched out in front of him and his knee resting against Louis'.  
"I could literally stay here with you forever," Harry announced, his low town practically a whisper in Louis' ear. Louis looked up at Harry who was staring at him; eyebrows pressed into a frown.

Louis plucked up the courage from somewhere, and before he knew it, his mouth was on Harry's, his lips were soft and familiar as Louis' took his time to really feel this moment. Harry reciprocated the kiss and pulled his muscular arms around Louis, pulling him in tighter and deepening the kiss. Louis knew he was totally at Harry's mercy, the mere thought of Harry was enough to get his blood pumping and to sit here right now like this was sending shockwaves all around his body. He felt the bulge in his pants get harder as Harry snaked his arms around Louis' neck, his fingers cold and gentle. Louis knew he couldn't fight it anymore, he was going to give in to Harry sooner or later so he decided it would be sooner, "I want you..." he whispered into Harry's ear, kissing little pecks down into the groove of his neck, stopping when he reached his sharp collarbones. "I want you so badly." Harry rolled his head back in pleasure and let out a low moan.

"Not here, Lou." he managed to say as Louis continued kissing his neck, paying extra special attention to just under his jawline.

Louis was feeling hot and bothered now; he wanted Harry right here, right now, didn't care who saw them.

"Lou, baby... come on, please - I can't take it." moaned Harry remembering they still had to make an appearance at the party in just under an hour.

Harry grabbed Louis by the shoulders and whispered into his ear, "Wait." Louis wasn't happy about this; he puffed his shoulders out to argue back when Harry spoke again, "As soon as I get you back to the hotel, I'm going to fuck you so hard you're not gonna' be able to walk for a week." This put an end to Louis' complaining, and he had to resist the urge of coming right there in his pants.

Begrudgingly, they stood up and headed back to the car to show their faces at Kendall's party, the atmosphere in the car was painstakingly silent as Harry drove them back into the lit up city, both of them fully aware of what was going to happen in a couple of hours.

The party at Kendall's was jam packed full of famous faces and big names, Louis actually found himself feeling rather starstruck as he bumped into Ryan Gosling on his way back from the bathroom, he rambled on about 'The Notebook' being one of his favourite films, ever, in the history of films. Yes, they were his exact words. Louis' almost threw himself down the marble staircase when he realised just how big of a fangirl he must have come across as.

The boys had been at the party for about an hour now, both of them a little tipsy from the champagne that was being handed out by waiters on circular platters. Harry had introduced him to a couple of people, and Louis had smiled politely, willing Harry to stop being so bloody social and take him back to the hotel. Louis was leant against a table in the immaculate, and incredibly white kitchen helping himself to another glass of wine. Harry was talking to a few friends a couple of metres away from him. Louis was watching him from across the room, noticing that everybody who he was talking to was hanging off every word he spoke. Harry had that effect on people, when he was talking - you listened.  
He couldn't keep his eyes away from the younger boy, it was definitely the drink talking... but all he wanted to do was march over there and stick his tongue down his throat, in front of everybody. Basically a non-verbal warning to everybody that Harry was HIS.

When Harry was finally finished, Louis beckoned him over and passed him a glass of champagne, hoping to sweeten the boy up before asking if it was time to leave yet. Harry nodded, and the two boys walked through the house, Harry catching Kendall's eye and giving her a small peck on the cheek before heading outside, Louis in tow.

Harry had been drinking so he couldn't drive his car back to the hotel, but it didn't take long for a taxi to show up and even though it was booked for somebody else, Harry used his charm and dragged Louis into the back before the paps had a chance to flash their annoyingly bright flashes in their faces.

"Good night, boys?" the taxi driver asked, cheerily. Neither of them were up for small talk, but neither of them were ignorant arseholes either so they conversed with the driver, asked about how busy he'd been and if he'd travelled anywhere exciting today. As the driver was relaying a funny story to the boys, neither Harry nor Louis were too sure what he was actually talking about and were whispering quietly in the back as the driver paused his story to answer a phone call. Louis was feeling a little light headed from the champagne... or was it because he was practically sat on Harry's lap. Harry's firm hands were pressed up around his waist, Louis leaning back into him, and shuddering under his touch.

"Can't wait to get you back upstairs," muttered Harry under his breath, resting his hand on Louis' inner thigh. Louis' cock was well and truly awake, constricted in his boxers.

When the taxi ride ended, Harry practically threw the money at the driver, wished him a good night and they exited the vehicle and rushed into the hotel through the private entrance.

"My room or yours?" breathed Harry as they were taken upwards in the lift to the floor they were staying on.

"Whichever's closest." stated Louis.

Harry fiddled with the keycard to his room, slamming it against the reader and hearing it unlock with a click.

As soon as the door was shut, Louis and Harry's lips were pressed up against one another, fumbling around in the dark - their warm bodies flush against each other. Harry's arms were wrapped around Louis' neck, and Louis had one hand on Harry's bum, and the other was sliding up his shirt, and around the back. Hushed moans were escaping from each other's mouths as their dicks rubbed together through the thin material of their jeans.

Harry's in control as he pulls Louis' shirt over his head, looking down to appreciate his body, the curve of his hips, the little trail of hair leading from his belly button down to his cock, the way his arse looked in them jeans and imagining how it would look without them. Louis was sucking at Harry's neck, leaving little red marks in a suspicious trail and biting down softly making Harry moan, surprisingly loud.

 _"Well, well, well_... does Mr Styles have a bit of a pain fetish?" Louis asked cocking his head to one side and raising his eyebrows.

"Mmm," was all Harry managed, "Get on the bed, m'gonna fuck you so hard."

Louis complied and lay down, pulling Harry on top of him, it didn't take long until their clothes were off and they were rolling around under the sheets, their cocks sliding together making them both become needy and pleading. Louis reached his hand around and spread Harry's cheek just a little, rubbing his finger against Harry's hole. Harry's back arched, and he lost focus for a moment from the touch.

"Please Lou, more," Harry begged, utterly gone under Louis' touch, Harry lay limp, pressed against Louis' chest as he teased his rim, putting the tiniest little bit of finger in and taking it back out again. "Louis," Harry growled.

Harry reached over into the cupboard beside the bed, rummaging around for a moment before finding what he was looking for, a small bottle of lube and a condom. Louis looked up to see what Harry was holding and whispered, "Haz, have you...y'know, um, been with anyone since me?" Not really sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"No."

"Couldn't, didn't want to, only want you," Harry whispered into Louis' ear. "Have you?"

Louis shook his head and looked Harry straight in the eye. "Never."

Louis could feel Harry's sticky cum leaking onto his stomach as he hovered over him, he lowered his hand in between his legs and wiped it off, bringing his fingers back up and sucking at them. "Wanna taste you," he breathed, pressing his lips into Harry's and licking at the parting of Harry's lips, this sent Harry crazy, and before Louis could even move, he'd began wildly sucking at Louis' neck, going further down until he reached Louis nipples, licking and sucking at them made Louis' shout out, surprising both of them at how loud he was.

Harry continued to go further down until his head was between Louis' legs, feeling Louis rest his hand on the back of his neck, he began to lick a stripe up Louis' cock, holding it with one hand and circling his thumb around the tip and licking the cum that was escaping from Louis' slit. Harry could feel Louis' legs stiffen up as he wrapped them around his back, his toes curling from the feeling.

" _Enough_!" hissed Louis, through gritted teeth, "Want you to fuck me now."

Harry didn't need convincing.  
He took the bottle of lube in his hand and squirted a small amount on to his fingers, which he proceeded to rub onto Louis' rim. He felt Louis' buck down onto his fingers, his body begging him to enter. He felt for the condom which was lying next to Louis when the older boy put his hand on, "No," he whispered, grabbing at Harry's wrist. "Wanna feel you, want you to fill me up... your cum inside me."

"Are you sure?" asked Harry, immensely fired up at his confession.

Louis bit down onto his lip and nodded.

Harry steadied himself between Louis' legs, caressing his face with one hand and his other roaming down Louis' body, he grabbed his own cock and lined it up with Louis' arse, teasing the boy by rubbing the head of his cock on to his hole.

Louis' body was practically screaming out for him now, longing for the feeling of Harry's cock inside him, for their bodies to connect as one and begging for the euphoria of their first orgasm together in a long time.

Harry pushed gently inside Louis' as they let out simultaneous moans and Louis' body automatically fell into the same rhythm as Harry's. The pace picked up, and soon Harry was pumping into Louis with every ounce of strength he had, the boy was practically squealing underneath him, his hands were pressing into Louis' shoulders pinning him down to the bed. "Louis, Louis, Louis," Harry pretty much sang. The vein in Harry's forehead was bulging out, and sweat was pooling between their bodies. Louis' fingers were finding their way to Harry's arse, rubbing up and down onto his hole which made Harry quiver above him. _"Fuck... fuck_!" Harry called out, as his hole was stretched open by Louis.

"God Haz, gonna... need to," Louis cried out, "Shit."

"You like that, baby?" Harry gasped as Louis melted underneath him, his cock was hitting Louis' prostate, and the sight of Louis like this was all Harry ever wanted to see for the rest of his life. "Wanna make you come, you gonna' come for me?" Harry panted into Louis' mouth, inhaling his breath. They’re nothing but a chorus moans and gasps. Harry felt Louis' hole tighten around his cock; he knew he was close. "Come on baby, come for me, that's it."

" _Harry, Harry... oh fuck,_ Harry." screamed Louis.

Louis did as Harry said, and so did Harry. Their bodies froze together as one as they share an orgasm, Harry filling Louis up good and proper. "Good boy, that's it." Harry managed as he lost all his strength and fell into Louis' arms, gently pulling his cock out of Louis' arse, his skin was sticky and wet underneath him. But Harry didn't care; he couldn't even see properly, his sight was blurred and his mouth was dry.

Louis might as well have been a bowl of jelly, his limbs unable to move as his cock twitched and splattered Harry's stomach with his white cum, Harry's doing the same. There was nothing quite as special as them both orgasming at the same time, like their bodies are one being and they both need the other one to breathe.

"I love you so much, baby," announced Louis as he felt the rise and fall of Harry's broad chest on his own, he kissed the top of his head and closed his eyes, not even bothering to shower just yet. He wanted just to lie here and take this all in, maybe it sounds stupid, but Louis was so close to crying. His eyes were stinging as he tried to hold back tears, as he caressed the younger boys face and breathed in his scent.

Soon, they were both asleep; Harry was still lying on top of Louis, the two of them physically and mentally were one.

 


	6. Half a heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fiiiiiiiiiinally it's up! 
> 
> I hope you like it. :)

Entwined limbs, rising chests and heavy eyes occupied the bed. It was peaceful. Warm light pooled in from around the window and bathed the sleeping bodies in a light orange haze; boys completely oblivious to the world outside.

Louis was starting to rouse, his body aching under the pressure of the torso that was pressing against him, his eyes twitching under the light and his legs sticking to the sheets beneath him. His eyes opened slowly as he regained consciousness. The first thing Louis saw was Harry, his hair strewn all over the pillow, his exposed chest flush against his side and his hand wrapped firmly around his own. Memories of last night were flooding back now, and Louis' cheeks began to flush, he couldn't help but smile as he recalled what had happened. A month ago, he and Harry weren't even speaking, and now... well, it's safe to say they had reconnected. Louis didn't move; he just lay there; taking everything in, tracing his fingers around Harry's wrist and planting soft kisses on the top of his head. Everything was still around them; he didn't care about anything else right now.

The stillness didn't last very long.

A loud banging came from the hotel door, which made both Louis and Harry jump, only Harry didn't wake, just groaned and rolled over in the bed.  
  
"Harry!! Open the door, mate" a voice boomed from the other side, Louis jumped up, slid on his discarded boxer shorts from last night and headed to the door.

"Alright, alright!" Louis called back, agitated by the rude wake-up.  
  
He flicked open the latch and twisted the door knob to find Liam standing there, panting and looking concerned.

"We've been trying to contact you both for over an hour, gathered you were together, we've been knocking... your phones are off?!" shouted Liam as he barged his way into the room, Harry still hadn't stirred and was snoring softly into the pillow.

"Mate, we were busy... what's going on?" asked Louis, pulling on a jumper from the cupboard.

Liam looked over at Harry, then back at Louis. His face was unreadable, his usually cool and collected demeanour was nowhere to be seen, and Louis was extremely confused.

"Liam, what's going on?"

"It's Gemma, Lou," Liam started, his hands running through his hair.

Louis was sure his heart had skipped a beat, "Anne's just rang us, Oh God Louis, she's in a bad way, car accident - it doesn't look good, mate."

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck._

The next few moments seemed like somebody had pressed fast forward, Harry had jumped up out of bed at the mention of Gemma's name and was frantically pacing around the room, throwing items into his suitcase and pulling his clothes on. Louis was sat down in a chair, unable to comprehend Liam's words. He had always been so close to Gemma, many late night conversations at Harry's parent's kitchen table, countless times she had brought out the old photo albums and her and Louis had poured through them. It didn't seem real. Harry's voice suddenly brought Louis out of his train of thought.

"What are you doing?! Get _fucking_ ready." he growled.

Louis sprang into action, running back and forth from his room to Harry's, dragging bags and items with him. Liam was on the phone to their management trying to arrange a car and a plane to get them back to England as soon as possible; he was waving his arms about and shouting down the phone.

"Haz... Haz," Louis said as he grabbed hold of the boy's arm, "It's gonna be alright, love."

"Just get me home, Louis."

Half an hour later and all four boys were turning into the airport, the silence was deafening; all too wrapped up in their own thoughts to say anything.

Being in a famous boy band definitely had its perks, Liam had pulled through, and as the car stopped, Liam rolled down the window to be greeted by their security guy Paul, who informed them there was a private aircraft waiting for them. Harry still hadn't uttered a single word; he was staring off into the distance as they were whisked around the airport grounds and into a loading area. Louis lay his hand over Harry's hoping it would offer even a little bit of comfort; there was no retaliation from the younger boy as he blinked through tears and kept his hand stiff.

The flight was agonising; nobody knew what to say. Harry just continued to stare out of the window, fiddling with his hands and rocking his leg up and down. Louis was seated next to him, and Liam and Niall were behind them. The flight from L.A to London would take almost 11 hours. It was half past eight in the morning in L.A, meaning it would be late afternoon in London. Liam was tapping away on his phone with a grave look on his face, and after a minute, he headed off to the bathroom to make a call.  
Louis was watching Harry - trying to think of something to say. Something that would make it all go away. But Louis knew that couldn't happen, he'd spent the last six years trying to protect Harry, and it broke his heart that this was the first time he wouldn't be able to do that.

After a while, Liam arrived back from the bathroom and nodded at Louis to follow him.

"She's stable, for now, in the intensive care unit at The Royal London, Anne's devastated - it's not good Lou. Head trauma and internal bleeding, they've put her into an induced coma." Liam whispered, his voice cracking. Louis felt his knees buckle underneath him and Liam grabbed onto him to stop him from hitting the deck.

Louis walked back to his seat in a daze to find that Harry had drifted off; he looked so vulnerable, his eyes closed and his head lolling to one side. Louis took his seat next to him and rested his head gently on the younger boys shoulders. He didn't want to wake him, at least him being asleep meant he didn't have to think about what was happening.

 _How could something be so right one minute, and so wrong the next_ , thought Louis as he rubbed at his temples, he forced himself to sleep after that, being awake was just too difficult.  
Both boys slept for a couple of hours until they were startled awake by the sound of the pilot announcing their current destination and that the hostesses were about to come around and serve food. Neither Louis or Harry were hungry and stayed huddled up in their seats.

  
"Lou," Harry whispered, lifting his head up to look at him. "What if I lose her?" Tears were forming in his eyes now, and Louis had never seen him look more scared in his entire life.

"Not going to happen, baby," Louis responded, holding Harry close to him. "She's a tough cookie is your Gemma."

Harry nodded but didn't look convinced.

The rest of the journey was pretty silent; Harry slept on and off in Louis' arms as they glided through the sky both with lumps in their throats about what was going to happen once the plane landed. An obvious uncertainty filled the small aircraft, and nobody really knew what to say to each other, Louis would hear Niall and Liam occasionally muttering behind him, but the general atmosphere was tense.

"This is your captain here, we're on the final stretch of the journey and should be landing in London in around thirty-five minutes, the time here is twenty-five minutes to four, we hope you've enjoyed your flight with us."

Louis huffed, "If only you knew."

The plane was soon rolling down the runway, bumping as the wheels hit the concrete floor and all four boys started to fidget in their seats awaiting the landing. Once the plane had stopped, everybody jumped into action, gathering their phones and retrieving their hand luggage from the overhead compartments and readying themselves to exit.

"Louis," Liam declared as they were standing around waiting for the doors to open. "There's a car waiting for you two to take you straight to the hospital, we'll grab all your shit and head back to Niall's, I'll keep my phone on loud so you can get in touch."

Louis nodded his head, remembering just how much he loved Liam and how he really should thank him more for being the mature one and taking care of them all. "Keep us updated, mate." he finished, giving Louis a squeeze on the shoulder as they were finally released from the plane.

Harry held tightly onto Louis' hand all the way into the arrivals lounge, up through baggage claim and out into the pickup area. Louis didn't care if anybody saw them, didn't care that their pictures would probably be splashed on the front pages of the gossip magazines and especially didn't care that management would be furious. Harry looked straight ahead as they walked, didn't stop once - didn't even lift his head.  
They were soon inside their car on the way to the hospital.

By the time they managed to get outside of the airport and start heading towards their car, the sky had started to darken. The typical autumn weather truly signalled that they were back in England. Both boys were relishing in the droplets of water that were pitter-pattering from the sky as they loaded their bags into the trunk of the car and climbed inside, Liam had arranged for the car to drop their bags off at Liam's house after taking them to the hospital.  
The driver must have been pre-warned of the situation as he didn't offer up any small talk, just greeted them and carted them on their way.

Harry was on the phone to his mum, talking in hushed tones with his head in his hands and his whole body arched forwards.

"Mum, I'm about ten minutes away - hey, hey... everything will be okay, I'm almost there."

Louis' heart was aching for the younger boy who sat next to him, his whole world had come crashing down on top of him, and all he cared about was making sure his mum was okay. They'd always been a close-knit family, muddling together every day with each other at their sides. Louis thought about his own family; he hadn't even contacted them to say he was back in England, the thought had completely slipped his mind. He took out his phone from his pocket and tapped a quick text to his mum -

_Hey mum, only me, so sorry I haven't messaged sooner... back in London, been an accident with Gemma, I'll call you as soon as I can xx_

She replied, almost instantly.

_Hey, baby, we know, don't you worry about that, Anne called earlier; she told me that you were all on your way back. Dan's trying to get off work to drive us down, give them my love sweetheart. X_

"Louis," whispered Harry as they turned into the car park of the hospital and the tall, white building came into view. "I'm so scared, what if she... I don't think I can —"  
His face was ghostly white; his boyish eyes so red and swollen.

"Of course you can, I'm here with you... I'm not going anywhere." he interrupted, squeezing Harry's hand so hard his knuckles turned white.

Soon enough, they were sprinting through the reception of the hospital, down the white hallways and straight towards the front desk.

"Gemma! Gemma Styles, where is she?!" Harry barked at the receptionist; she had obviously recognised him by the stunned look on her face, but for safety regulations, she had to ask - "Are you family?"

Harry's face twisted, "Don't be _fuckin_ ' stupid, you know exactly who I am, tell me where my sister is!"

"Harry?" a voice echoed from a couple of yards down the hall. It was Anne.

Harry turned to see her standing a couple of metres away, tissues balled up in her hand and her arms outstretched. He practically ran towards her, throwing his arms around her neck as they both fell into one another. Louis found a quiet corner of the room, took a seat and let his head fall into his hands. Seeing two of the strongest people in his life fall apart like this was heartbreaking, Anne had always been like a second mum to Louis. She had reached out to Louis a couple of times after he and Harry had broken up, they'd gone out for coffee more than once, and she had let him cry on her shoulder. He wanted nothing more than to run over there and wrap them both up, but it wasn't his place, and honestly, he didn't have the strength. He had to stay strong for Harry, one hug from Anne would completely send him over the edge, and that can't happen, not now.

Louis could hear Harry and Anne talking around the corner; he was trying to work up the courage to join them and greet Anne when his choice was taken away from him. He heard footsteps walking towards him; he looked up from his hands to see Anne standing in front of him; wearing a weary smile upon her face.

"I'm so glad you're here Louis." was all it took for Louis to break down, his head was all over the place. Last night was incredible, and now here they were, in the hospital - Gemma lying a couple of doors down in a coma. He was sobbing into Anne's shoulder when he felt a firm pair of hands slide up his back and around both of their necks. The trio stood there for a couple of moments, trying to compose themselves when Anne whispered to Harry, "I'll take you to her now."

The door to the ward creaked open, Louis watched as Harry crept into the darkened room before hearing his muffled sobs escape through the open door. Louis couldn't bare this, his whole body was screaming out at him to do something, but there wasn't anything he could do, apart from sitting there and listening to the love of his life break down next to his sister.

It had been about an hour since Harry and Anne had entered Gemma's room when Harry emerged looking overwhelmingly lost and distraught. Louis jumped up out of his chair and threw his arms around Harry's neck; he held the younger boy so close that he was sure he was going to break him, Harry just stood limp and defeated in Louis' arms.

"Drunk driver," Harry snarled. "Over the limit, right into the side of her fuckin' car Louis."

Louis could feel bile rising in his throat as Harry told him exactly what had happened, he felt nothing but rage, and it was taking everything for him to stop himself from lashing out right now. He was three times over the limit, came out of nowhere... smashed straight into her.

"He's dead. Killed on impact," stated Harry coldly.

"Good."

They exchanged glances, both pretty shocked at what Louis had said.

"Lou... Don't talk like that, he —"

" _Are you kidding me?_!" He cut in, "He put your sister in fucking hospital Harry, head injuries... coma, don't tell me not to talk like that."

Harry raised his hands as if to stop Louis, he shifted over to him and put his hand on the small of Louis' back.

Anne peered her head through the door and beckoned both Louis and Harry to come over, "Listen you two, you should go home. There's nothing you can do here, she's stable for now, and we'll call you if anything changes."

"No, absolutely not." Harry protested, he even stomped his foot.

"You've just got off an eleven-hour flight, Harry. You need some sleep; I need you to be okay. Please, go home. I swear I'll let you know if anything happens," she responded softly, taking Harry's hand in her own as he continued to shake his head. "Please sweetheart, get some rest. I'm really going to need you these next few weeks."

Louis knew she was right, heck, Harry knew she was right, but he just couldn't face leaving her here.

Louis cleared his throat and began to speak, "Could I... could I go in and see her?" He'd been working up the courage to ask this for a while, unsure if it was appropriate or not, both Harry and Anne snapped their heads around to look at Louis. _Oh shit_ , he thought.

"Of course you can, I can't believe you even felt like you needed to ask. You're practically family." Anne stated, the tiniest hint of a smile on her lips as Harry pulled Louis' head into his chest and placed a small kiss on top - this caused Anne to raise her eyebrows slightly.

Louis reached out to hug her, taking her hand and offering a small thank you as he headed into Gemma's room.

He couldn't help but gasp at what he saw when he entered the room, she was just lying there, so still and so small; her neck being supported by a brace. Her porcelain skin was marked with bruises and cuts, her lips were split and her eyes were swollen. Louis' head began to pound, _how could this have happened to her._  He sat down on the chair at the side of her, leaning over to take hold of her hand.

"I'm so sorry, Gem. Please, please be okay," he pleaded. "So many people love you, me and Harry have travelled all the way from L.A to see you, I mean... you kinda have to be okay now, right?" He knew she wasn't going to answer, but if there was a small chance that she could hear him, then he was going to take it. She'd always loved Louis's sense of humour, so dry and blunt and so terribly honest. He sat in the dark for a while, just holding her hand and quite frankly, just talking out of his arse when Harry knocked quietly on the door to tell him that Robin was here. Louis' stood up and ever so gently kissed Gemma on her hand, "We'll see you soon, babe."

Harry had eventually given in to his mother and agreed to go home to get some sleep; they said their goodbyes. Anne promised to get in touch if anything happened, and they begrudgingly started to make their way to the front of the hospital with Louis calling a taxi as they walked.

The sharp night's air hit them both as they walked outside, it was nine-thirty in the evening now, and both boys were still dressed as though they were headed out for an evening in L.A.  
Louis shivered as he lit a cigarette up and inhaled deeply, he let the air out slowly and was so relieved to have his first cigarette in over eight hours. The jet lag was catching up with both of them as they waited for a taxi, both huddled in the corner of the car park, heavy-eyed and light-headed.

"Excuse me..." a timid voice called out from a couple of metres away, "Do you mind if we get a picture with you?" Two young girls were stood there with excited expressions on their faces.

"Sorry girls, not tonight." answered Louis, taking another puff of his cigarette.

"But, pleaaaaaaaa—" they sang, but Harry interrupted.

"Sure, c'mon Lou... it's no problem, girls." It wasn't their fault, they weren't to know, and if it were any other day, Louis would have happily taken pictures. A chorus of thank you's ensued, and both boys forced a smile on for these unknowing girls. Louis was astounded at Harry's bravery, his elegance and poise had never once faltered in all the years he'd known him.

"Look, love. Taxi's here." Louis announced, pointing to the black hackney cab that was rolling into the entrance of the hospital.

"Did you, did you just call him love?" one of the girls asked, her voice sqeualing and her mouth open wide.

"Yep," Louis said as he pulled at Harry's arm and guided him inside of the taxi.

The sky was pitch black now, and Harry and Louis had just arrived back at Louis' house, he slotted the key into the door and pushed it open. Straight away the familiarity hit him, he'd always been a home bird and loved nothing more than the comfort of his own house. Louis kicked off his shoes and headed straight to the kitchen to make them both a well-deserved cuppa'. Harry trailed behind him and perched down at the breakfast bar, tapping away on his phone.  
Louis reached into the cupboard to take out two mugs and set them down in front of the kettle. He leant onto the counter to steady himself as the reality of today was starting to hit home. He remembered waking up this morning, at total peace with the world - seeing the sunlight bouncing off of Harry's back, being in total awe of the young man lying next to him, and now, everything was fucked.

He turned around to look at Harry; there were so many things he wanted to say, he just couldn't figure out how to say them. He walked over to him and leant his head against Harry's, soon enough, everything started to pour out. Harry was shaking uncontrollably, and quiet sobs were escaping from his mouth. The quiet sobs soon turned into loud wails as Harry broke down there and then in Louis' arms. Louis himself was flooded with tears too, holding onto Harry for dear life as their bodies crumbled together.

"Just... just make it go away, Lou. Please," Harry begged. "I'm not strong enough to cope if she..."

Louis grabbed Harry by his chin, "Listen to me, now. You are the strongest person I know, me and you... we can get through anything, I'm here... I'm here for you, I'll always be here for you."

"I love you so much; I don't deserve you." sobbed Harry into the crook of Louis' neck.

"C'mon. Let's go upstairs." Louis suggested, taking Harry by the hand.

Once upstairs, Louis headed to the airing cupboard and fetched two clean towels, giving one to Harry and draping one over his shoulder. He grasped Harry's hand and swayed him towards the bathroom; the harsh bathroom light wasn't doing either of them any favours, both boys looked as though they hadn't slept for a week.

"What are we doing?" asked Harry as he watched Louis potter around the bathroom.

"Showering," Louis replied.

Harry raised his eyebrows at Louis, "Um... Lou, I don't think now's the best time for you to try and seduce me," he said with a shaky laugh.

"I'm not bloody trying to seduce you, Haz. Not being funny, but we could both do with a shower." Louis retorted as he marched over to Harry.

Louis reached out for Harry's face, his fingers gently tracing the line of his jaw, he began to unbutton Harry's shirt and slid it off from his broad shoulders. He leant down to unbuckle Harry's belt and undo the button on his jeans, shimmying them down Harry's legs and requesting Harry to lift his feet up to get them off. Once their clothes were discarded in a heap on the floor, both boys headed into the shower.

The water poured down on top of their heads, straightening out Harry's waves and pulling Louis' fringe in front of his eyes. The heat of the water was intensely soothing for both of them as they let it run down their faces and onto their bodies. Harry reached out for Louis' hand, and they just stood there for a while, admiring each other and feeling just a little of the heaviness of today's events disappear from their shoulders. It's like they were the only two people on earth, wrapped up inside each other - desperately clinging to the other one for support. "I love you so much, Louis," announced Harry as he smoothed out Louis' hair. "I love you too, Harry." This was the first time since they started talking again that Louis could really see the love in Harry's eyes for him. They were almost twinkling, like how they used to.  
Louis reached out for the shampoo bottle which was stood in the basket next to the shower, he held it up like he was acting in a commercial, "And here we have Mr Harry Styles' shampoo, golden apple scented and one hundred percent cruelty-free." Louis joked in an over dramatic voice. This brought out a small chuckle in Harry. "Lemme wash your hair, love," he added.

Louis squeezed a small amount of the shampoo onto his hands, proceeding to run it through Harry's long locks and massaging it into his scalp. Harry bent his head back so Louis could reach the top letting him wash and rinse the shampoo out. Harry whipped around to see Louis standing there, in all his glory holding the shower head, looking all serious and sticking his tongue out to concentrate.  
Harry grabbed the shower head and threw it down onto the floor whilst stepping forward and closing the gap between them both. He pressed his wet lips down onto Louis', a small gasp escaping from an unprepared Louis mouth as they both settled into the kiss. It was different from last night; it wasn't lustful or needy, it was soft and warm - so easy and comfortable. They were pressed up against each other so tightly, their skin moulding to all the curves and indents in their bodies.  
Louis swore to himself that he would do anything and everything to make this man happy, he would risk it all just to see the smile on his face, he was going to fight for him for the rest of their lives if necessary.

The kiss was stopped abruptly by Louis, "I can't hide this anymore, Haz," he almost whispered, "I'm not going to hide the fact that I'm in love you with anymore... I'm gonna' come out."

**Flashback. November - 2011.**

All five boys piled into the lift at the Modest offices, it was their first official meeting with the big bosses, and they were all extremely nervous. They were due to embark on their first world tour the following week and were meeting with the team to be introduced to the people who would be taking care of everything for the next two months.  
There was a definitive buzz surrounding the boys, so young and full of beans and eager to be back on the stage after 'The X Factor' tour had concluded.  
When the lift opened, they all walked forwards and followed the woman who was leading them to the conference room. Neither of them really knew what to expect. The room they were led into was massive, full of smart boards and a long table sat in the middle with a scatter of files, paper and pens. They were greeted by a very formal man in a highly expensive looking suit; the boys exchanged looks as they looked down at their all too casual style.

"Boys! It's so nice to meet you, I'm Richard Grif—" he was cut off by a rather plump man with a pink face and white hair.

"Yes, I'm Harry Magee."

Harry and Louis were caught up in a world of their own at the back of the group and weren't even taking much notice of the men who were fighting for their attention. They all took their seats, and the meeting began. The general topics discussed were things like what they weren't allowed to talk about during interviews, that they shouldn't be photographed partying and then giving them their schedules for promotional events that would be taking place. The boys sat and listened carefully, all wearing a look of confusion and almost fear of the big words and legal talk.

Nobody had ever really made them aware of all the fine print that came with being in a boyband, it was a scary thing for them to process but they were young and naive, so they listened to their elders and took note. Louis was doing his utmost to annoy everybody in the room by asking very basic questions and giving out sarcastic remarks. Harry was trying so hard not to laugh at Louis' shenanigans but failed miserably, which set the rest of the lads off and soon the room was full of five boys who didn't really understand the seriousness of this whole procedure.

Nobody else in the room thought it was all that funny.

The meeting was soon over, but before they could leave, they were all asked to sign a contract, agreeing to all of the management's terms and conditions and informing them of the consequences if the rules weren't followed. Liam, Niall and Zayn signed the contract first and headed towards the door, Louis and Harry were deep in conversation in the far end of the room when Magee coughed, signalling them over to sign the paper. As the two boys approached the table, Magee sat down in his chair at the head and called for the boys to do the same.

"Now, there's something we want to talk to you two about, alone," He announced as he glanced towards the door where the other boys were waiting, they took the message and left, all too willingly.

"We've set up an extra contract for you two, we've been watching you since you first appeared on the show last year, and we think... well, we think your relationship is odd."

Louis shook his head, "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Well, I'll lay it on the line. You're young, single and in the hottest young boyband in England. Yet, you're never pictured with girls, never talk about them, seem more interested in each other, to be honest, and well, we think it's bad for your image." Magee piped up, his arrogant face twisted up into a sickly smile.

"Our image?" asked Harry. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, he was totally aware of how his and Louis' relationship came across... but it hadn't ever been a problem before.  
He glanced towards Louis who was tapping his foot on the floor; Harry could sense that Louis was getting riled up.  
Neither of them had ever put a label on their relationship, never felt the need to.  
For the last twelve months, their lives had been such a whirlwind, and the only normality they had was within each other. Under the covers late at night discovering every inch of each other and themselves. Harry's cheeks flushed red as he thought back to the previous night, not nine hours ago had he and Louis slept together for the first time, and now... now they were being made to feel as though it was wrong, when they both knew just how right it was.

"Yes, your image," said Magee. "Your primary fan base is teenage girls, they are going to want to picture themselves with you; they'll want to feel as though your songs are written for them, they'll be standing at your concerts imagining you're singing TO them, they can't do that if you're all over each other like a rash."

Louis broke out into a hysterical laugh, the entire room turned to face him, and Harry knew what was about to happen, he was going to lose it.

One, two, three, he counted in his head waiting for the eruption.

" _Oh boy_ , have I got news for you," he started as he stood up from his seat, "I can't speak for Harry here, but I'm definitely going to speak for myself. I don't CARE about teenage girls wanting to BE with me. I really, really don't, ya' see... I'm _gay_ , if it wasn't already completely obvious to you. There's not a chance in hell I'm going to stop being myself with my boyfriend because you don't think our fanbase will like it, _tough shit_ if they don't. Not happening, the end."  
  
Harry almost snapped his damn neck at the mention of the word boyfriend, this was the first time it had ever been said out loud, they both knew they were totally committed to each other, but neither of them had ever had the courage to say the word 'boyfriend'.

With that, Louis grabbed Harry up from his chair, taking him by the hand almost pulling his arm out of the socket in the process and sauntered out of the door, wiggling his sassy little behind after him. They had managed to get halfway down the corridor when Harry had finally realised what had happened and stopped him in his tracks.

Louis turned around to see why Harry had stopped, "What?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

Harry walked towards Louis, close enough to whisper, " _Boyfriend_?" with raised eyebrows, biting down on his bottom lip.

Louis' eyes widened, he thought he'd gotten away with that little comment, but apparently not.

"Well, um, I mean, d'ya wanna?" he muttered, his hands in his pockets and his eyes glued firmly to the floor. Harry curled his fingers up underneath Louis' chin, gently pulling his face up, so that they were eye to eye.

He answered with a kiss.

 

 


End file.
